From: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel)
Subject: PSR: Nuke Moratorium Passes and is signed
Followup-To: alt.activism.d
Originator: rich@pencil.cs.missouri.edu
Organization: PACH
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 23:01:52 GMT

/** psr.bulletins: 49.0 **/
** Topic: Moratorium Passes and is signed!! **
** Written  9:11 am  Oct  7, 1992 by psrnatl in cdp:psr.bulletins **


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                          CONTACT:   Daryl
Kimball 3pm, October 2, 1992
202/785-3777

U.S. STOPS NUCLEAR WEAPONS TESTING
Original Test Ban Group Praises Initiative

        WASHINGTON D.C. -- Today President Bush, despite earlier,
        adamant opposition, signed into law Congressional
        legislation that requires an immediate nine-month halt to
        nuclear weapons testing and a permanent end to all testing
        by the end of 1996.

        Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), working since
        1961 to end nuclear weapons testing and a leader in the
        effort to win Congressional approval of the ban, hailed
        today's developments.

        "This measure opens the door to ending four decades of
        underground nuclear testing worldwide and ending the
        qualitative arms race," said Daryl Kimball, Associate
        Director of Policy at Physicians for Social
        Responsibility.  "We urge the governments of the U.S.,
        Russia, France, the U.K. and China to follow the phase-out
        plan faithfully and energetically.  A comprehensive
        nuclear testing moratorium will add desperately-needed
        strength to international efforts to curb the
        proliferation of nuclear weapons," Kimball added.

        "We must seize this historic opportunity to achieve
        further progress.  PSR and the physicians peace movement
        worldwide call on President Yeltsin and President
        Mitterand to extend the Russian and French testing
        moratoria and urge the leaders of all the nuclear powers
        to begin nuclear test ban talks before the end of the U.S.
        moratorium," urged Kimball.

        The nuclear testing moratorium was amended to the Energy
        and Water Development Approptiations Act. Both the House
        and the Senate approved the amendment by overwhelming
        margins.

        "We owe a great deal to Congressman Mike Kopetski (D-OR)
        and Senators Mark Hatfield (R-OR), James Exon (D-NE), and
        Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) and the efforts of
        tens of thousands of citizen activists worldwide," noted
        Kimball. "The new U.S. nuclear testing moratorium would
        not have been possible without their vision and commitment
        to the issue."

        The new policy requires an immediate, nine-month testing
        moratorium and mandates that the President submit a
        schedule for nuclear test ban talks with Russia.  It also
        requires a plan for achieving a multilateral comprehensive
        ban on nuclear weapons testing before the end of 1996.
        Following the moratorium, the U.S. will be limited to a
        maximum of 15 nuclear test explosions chiefly for the
        purpose of improving warhead "safety."  The U.S. will end
        all nuclear testing after 1996, unless another nation
        conducts a nuclear test explosion.

        "Today's development is most historic. The new testing
        moratorium marks the first time that the United States and
        Russia have simultaneously agreed to stop testing since
        1960. It is the first that the U.S. has agreed to pursue
        Comprehensive Test Ban talks since 1980 when the Reagan
        Administration broke them off," observed Kimball.

        This morning, President Bush reacted to the ban by
        pledging that he will urge Congress to rescind the
        moratorium next year.

        "The President's response to the ban demonstrates his
        inability to recognize the real security threats of the
        post-Cold War era. Nuclear testing is an engine of the
        arms race. He fails to see that we are no longer racing
        the Russians for nuclear superiority, but that we are
        racing the clock to curb the spread of nuclear weapons
        worldwide. Mr. Bush would be wise to reverse his
        position," resplied PSR's Daryl Kimball.

        "We must be mindful that our nuclear weapons woes are not
        behind us. In the near term, nuclear non-proliferation
        efforts must be reinforced, weapons budgets must be
        reduced, and the nuclear nations must begin to heal the
        scars that nuclear weapons production and testing have
        inflicted on human health and the environment," Kimball
        cautioned.


# # #

Founded in 1961 to end nuclear weapons testing, PSR is a national
organization of over 25,000 health professionals and supporters in
more than 120 chapters working to prevent nuclear war, protect the
environment, and reorder national spending priorities.  It is the
U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of
Nuclear War, recipient of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.

For four decades, nuclear testing has been an engine of the
nuclear arms race and a leading symbol to non-nuclear nations that
the Earth's nuclear powers -- the U.S., Russia, France, Great
Britain, and China -- are not really serious about ending their
deadly pursuits.

        But in October of 1991, Soviet President Gorbachev's
        declaration of a unilateral, one-year nuclear testing
        moratorium provided a new opportunity.  Key U.S.
        lawmakers, including freshman Congressman Mike Kopetski
        (D-OR), Senator Mark O. Hatfield (R-OR), and Majority
        Leader George Mitchell (D-ME) joined a coalition of
        disarmament and environmental organizations and swiftly
        introduced legislation to match the Russian moratorium.

        By the summer of 1992, the breakup of the Soviet Union,
        France's declaration of its own testing moratorium, and
        strong citizen lobbying bolstered Congressional support
        for the test ban measure. President Bush's failure to
        respond to the test ban initiative with anything more than
        a "business as usual" testing program only helped to
        enlist the support of moderates and conservatives alike.
        Despite repeated veto threats, Congress ultimately
        approved test ban restrictions that went beyond the
        original concept of a temporary halt.

        They passed the nuclear testing moratorium legislation
        also because a majority recognize that we are no longer
        racing the Russians for nuclear superiority, but that we
        are in a race to reduce superpower arsenals and curb the
        spread of nuclear weaponry.

        Congress approved different versions of the nuclear
        testing moratorium four times this year. On August 3, the
        Senate approved virtually the same legislation as part of
        the Energy and Water Appropriations bill by a vote of
        68-26, and on September 18, the Senate approved the same
        language, 55-40, as part of it FY 1993 Defense
        Authorization bill.  On June 4, the House of
        Representatives passed legislation requiring a one-year
        moratorium by a margin of 237-167 as part of the FY 1993
        Defense Authorization bill. And on September 24, the House
        approved the Senate language for a moratorium as part of
        the FY 1993 Energy and Water Appropriations bill by a
        margin of 224-151.

        The moratorium's final passage is also the result of
        election-year circumstances and astute legislative
        strategy. President Bush approved the testing moratorium
        not because he supports it, but because it is tied to
        funding for the politically important Supercolliding Super
        Conductor project in Texas. Bush advisors stubbornly
        insist that "nuclear testing is necessary as long as we
        have nuclear weapons."

        Expectations are high that new U.S. nuclear testing
        moratorium  will lead to comprehensive test ban talks and
        convince the rest of the world to strengthen and extend
        the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which expires
        in 1995.  Physician activists from the U.S., Europe and
        the former Soviet Union will also meet this month with
        high-ranking Russian officials to encourage an extension
        of the Russian testing moratorium.

        We must still be mindful that the door is not yet slammed
        shut on our nuclear weapons woes. In the near term,
        nuclear test ban talks should be initiated before the
        nine-month moratorium ends, non-proliferation efforts must
        reinforced, and the nuclear nations must begin to heal the
        scars that nuclear weapons production and testing have
        inflicted on our health and the environment.


Summary of Nuclear Testing Moratorium Legislation Approved As Part
of the FY 1993 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill

1) There shall be a moratorium of 9 months, during which no
testing can take place.  The moratorium begins September 30, 1992
and ends on July 1, 1993.

2) Following the moratorium, tests may be conducted only when the
President has met the following criteria:

                - submitted to Congress a schedule for resumption
                of nuclear testing talks with Russia
                - a plan for achieving a multilateral
                comprehensive ban on the testing of nuclear
                weapons on or before September 30, 1996
                - an assessment of the number and type of warheads
                that will remain in the U.S. stockpile of active
                nuclear weapons
                - a plan for installing one or more modern safety
                features in each warhead
                - an assessment of number and type of nuclear
                weapon tests, not to exceed 5 tests in any one
                year -- for a total of not more than 15 tests
                before September 30 1996.

3) Tests can only occur under the following conditions:

                - only to test modern safety features
                (specifically insensitive high explosive (IHE),
                fire resistant pits (FRP) and enhanced detonation
                safety (ENDS) system).
                - only the number and type specified in the
                President's report.
                - only one test of reliability per year. A
                reliability test is counted toward the maximum
                number of tests that the U.S. is permitted to
                conduct.  A reliability test may be conducted only
                if:

                        - the President certifies to Congress that
                        it is vital to the national security
                        interests of the U.S.

                        - Congress does not issue a joint
                        resolution disapproving the President's
                        request.

                        - the United Kingdom may conduct no more
                        than 1 test yearly -- and then only if the
                        President deems that it is in the national
                        security interests of the United States to
                        do so.  A test by the U.K. is counted
                        toward the maximum number of tests that
                        the U.S. is permitted to conduct.

4) The U.S. cannot conduct any nuclear tests after September 30,
1996 unless a foreign state conducts an explosive nuclear weapons
test after this date.

DGK, Physicians for Social Responsibility, October 2, 1992
** End of text from cdp:psr.bulletins **
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