Date: 1996-03-29
Speaker: TOM LANTOS (democrat)
Chamber: H

PETE STARK. MATTHEW MARTINEZ. BOB UNDERWOOD. and the distinguished delegation from the State of Hawaii. Senators DANIEL INOUYE and DANIEL AKAKA. Congresswoman PATSY MINK. and my good friend. Congressman NEIL ABERCROMBI--for supporting my efforts over the years for U.S. accession to the SPNFZ Treaty. Mr. Speaker. I also want to recognize the tremendous leadership role that the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency [ACDA] has played in urging. since the Reagan administration. for U.S. support of the SPNFZ Treaty. ACDA has long been a crucial and vital part of several administrations efforts to stop nuclear proliferation around the globe. While ACDAs mission is growing with greater importanceStart II implementation. chemical weapons convention ratification. and completion of the comprehensive test ban treaty negotiations and implementationI find it an unfathomable tragedy that ACDAs funding is being butchered. Stopping proliferation of weapons of mass destruction must clearly be a top priority of our Government. and steps must be taken to ensure that ACDA will be given the resources necessary to accomplish this most urgent of missions. Mr. Speaker. although we were not able to stop France from resuming their recent nuclear bomb detonations in the South Pacific. we should welcome the fact that Paris irresponsible actions ignited worldwide protests and served as a catalyst for France to join the SPNFZ Treaty protocols. Mr. Speaker. although we were not able to stop France from resuming their recent nuclear bomb detonations in the South Pacific. we should welcome the fact that Paris irresponsible actions ignited worldwide protests and served as a catalyst for France to join the SPNFZ Treaty protocols in an attempt to defuse international condemnation. Mr. Speaker. the international communitys strong and visceral opposition to French nuclear testing sent a strong message that we have entered into a new postcoldwar era where nuclear testing and nuclear weapons development are increasingly viewed around the world as an unnecessary evil for preserving peace. stability. and freedom. Perhaps this is a lesson we can all take to heart on the eve of the 21st century. Mr. Speaker. it is about time that the three remaining nuclear powers have finally joined Russia and China. who ironically supported SPNFZ years ago. by acceding to the SPNFZ Treaty. The fact that all of the worlds declared nuclear powers are now signatories to the treaty. establishing the South Pacifics vast nuclearfree zone. cannot but be perceived positively in Geneva. Switzerland. where the United Nationssponsored Conference on Disarmament is under way. Joining the SPNFZ Treaty is proof of the nuclear powers good faith commitment to progress on nuclear disarmament. that should bolster efforts to negotiate a genuine "zeroyield" Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty before the end of this year. Mr. Speaker. a couple of observations. as I have followed the question of nuclear testing for the past 8 years and diligently pursued this issue with my colleagues while serving as a member of the House Committee on International Relations. We proved in World War II the devastating effect of nuclear weapons and their impact on human beings. The bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima some 50 years ago killed and vaporized over 150.000 men. women. and children. and points to the stark reality of the devastation that nuclear weapons can wreak upon mankind. Mr. Speaker. I am not one to quibble with the fact that we were at the height of a world war or that the axis powers were on the verge of oppressing all of the free people of the world and that our country was in the midst of this great war for democracy and freedom. but what basic lessons have we learned. Mr. S peaker. in perfecting how to destroy multitudes of fellow human beings by the creation of this great weapon. the atomic bomb? I wonder when we detonated what was known then in 1954 as the "Bravo Shot." where the United States was the first nation to explode a thermonuclear device. which was then known as the hydrogen bomb. what was gained for mankind while the people of the Marshall Islands suffered from these hydro tests in their homeland? I also wonder. Mr. Speaker. at this point in time in our history whether nuclear weapons really provide security for the American people as well as the other nations of the world. I am concerned. Mr. Speaker. about the fact that we have perfected the use of nuclear weapons and their destructive powers. just as we have made. I am sure. earnest efforts to harness peaceful uses of nuclear energy to improve living conditions for mankind. At the same time. Mr. Speaker. we are now capable of exploding a thermonuclear device 1.000 times more powerful than the atom bomb that we dropped on Hiroshima. What does that mean. Mr. Speaker? It means that we have perfected a device to hand down to generations to come so that we can kill other human beings by the destructive nature of the atom and hydrogen bomb. I am concerned. Mr. Speaker. about the fact that the Western nuclear powers condemn China now for continuing its efforts to perfect its nuclear devices. while the United States. for example. allocates a tremendous amount of our military budget to maintain our distinct and unchallenged nuclear technology supremacy. I find this hypocritical. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. while we harnessed nuclear energy for the benefit of our citizens to provide electricity for our homes. our Government also has to deal with the reality that it is going to take approximately $350 billion of the American taxpayers money to clean up and store the spent nuclear waste that is in our own country. This is just in our own country. It does not even address the issue of other nations currently using nuclear energy for electrical production. So we seem to be at a crossroad now. Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. where is it going to end. or when is it ever going to end? We need to bring the nuclear nightmare to an end and regain some sense of morality among nations of the world. so that peace can be attained in a constructive fashion. We cannot continue with this idea that we are going to win and they are going to lose if we press that nuclear button first. Mr. Speaker. I submit whoever presses that nuclear button. it is going to be a lose/lose situation for all of the nations of the world. I sincerely hope that perhaps having nuclearfr ezones. like the South Pacific nuclearfreezone. throughout the world will be a positive step for peace and stability in the world. We should all take a minute and say to ourselves. let us hold back. let us have a sense of better control of what we are doing. especially since we have already proven the destructive nature of nuclear weapons. We do not need to prove this again. as we did in World War II among the people that lived in Nagaskai and Hiroshima. I pray. Mr. Speaker. that my colleagues will help in our efforts to see that perhaps the five nuclear nations and the other undetected nations who have the capability for nuclear destruction. will provide a very strong and binding commitment that we will not spread this evil cold danger to other nations of the world. Mr. Speaker. I include the following material for the RECORD: HousE OF REPRESENTATIVES.