We should not forget that China has a well established propensity to export its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology. It has been reported in the press, for example, that China provided a fully tested nuclear weapons design and highly enriched uranium to Pakistan. China has also provided ballistic missile technology to Pakistan and other countries. In 1988, China provided a turnkey medium-range missile system to Saudi Arabia. That is an entire weapons system ready to use right out of the box.
China has also a record of providing nuclear, chemical, and biological missile technology to Iran.
Furthermore, the Rumsfeld Commission reported that a number of countries hostile to the United States, including Iran, Libya, Iraq, and North Korea, are capable of manufacturing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles and that previous United States intelligence assessments had greatly underestimated the danger that such developments pose to the United States. Should China decide to export the W-88 or a complete weapon to such nations, as has been done with so many other dangerous technologies, the consequences for regional and global stability would be grave indeed. All this, Mr. President, makes it more important than ever that the National Missile Defense Act of 1999 be passed. Faced with new and growing nuclear and ballistic missile threats, in part through our own carelessness, America needs the protection that such a missile defense system would offer. And Americans need the confidence of knowing that a system will be deployed rather than waiting on some future administrative decision on whether to deploy.