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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... 1999
Releases
The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate. If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly. |
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| MARCH
17, 1999 3:35 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Council for a Livable World John Issacs (202)546-0795 |
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| Statement On Senate Action: "Star Wars" Bill: Symbolism At Its Worst; Meaningless Amendments Provide Political Cover | ||||
| WASHINGTON
- March 17 - The following statement is attributable to John Isaacs,
President of the Council for A Livable World, in reaction to U.S. Senate
action today on S-257, the National Missile Defense Act:
"This vote is symbolism at its worst. It does nothing to advance our technological capability to protect America, and it could reverse the ongoing dismantling of Russia's nuclear arsenal and provoke a new arms race. "The meaningless amendments to this bill merely restated the obvious and did not make this proposal one bit less harmful to America's national security. There is no policy compromise, only political cover. The Senate has taken a sow's ear, put a little rouge on, slapped on some lipstick, and produced a sow's ear. "This vote sends the wrong message at the wrong time. The vote today pokes Russia just days before Russian Prime Minister Primakov is set to arrive in Washington, in the midst of U.S. efforts to negotiate modifications to the ABM Treaty, and just as the Russian Duma begins the ratification process for START II. It can further complicate our already-precarious relations with China, just weeks before Prime Minister Zhu is to arrive in Washington. "This bill would stake America's national security on a system that has failed 14 out of 18 recent tests. The U.S. has no reliable technology to ‘hit a bullet with a bullet,' so the Senate would have us hit it with a piece of legislation. America faces real challenges and threats, and we can't afford to put our national security policy on auto-pilot. This vote starts the U.S. down a slippery slope and, if it becomes law, could lock us into automatic deployment of a national missile defense system, without regard to cost to taxpayers, effectiveness, or impact on relations with our allies. After $120 billion and 40 years, we have been unable to make significant progress in the development of an effective missile defense system. "This bill comes with no price tag but a heavy price. It's a blank check to defense contractors and a hollow promise to Americans rightly concerned about the potential of terrorist attack – attacks that are much more likely to be delivered via a panel truck than a ballistic missile. "For these reasons we urge the House to reject political gamesmanship and reject the automatic deployment of "Star Wars," and, if necessary, we call on the President to veto such a bill." ### |
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