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NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997

KYL AMENDMENTS NOS. 4170-4175 (Senate - June 25, 1996)

(Ordered to lie on the table.)

[Page: S6869]

Mr. KYL submitted six amendments intended to be proposed by him to the bill, S. 1745, supra; as follows:

Amendment No. 4172

At the end of subtitle C of title II, add the following:

SEC. 237. DEPLOYMENT OF THEATER MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS UNDER THE ABM TREATY.

(a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

(1) The threat posed to the national security of the United States, the Armed Forces, and our friends and allies by the proliferation of ballistic missiles is significant and growing both quantitatively and qualitatively.

(2) The deployment of theater missile defense systems will deny potential adversaries the option of threatening or attacking United States forces, coalition partners of the United States, or allies of the United States with ballistic missiles armed with weapons of mass destruction as a way of offsetting the operational and technical advantages of the United States Armed Forces and the armed forces of our coalition partners and allies.

(3) Although technology control regimes and other forms of international arms control agreements can contribute to nonproliferation, such measures are inadequate for dealing with missile proliferation and should not be viewed as alternatives to missile defense systems and other active and passive measures.

(4) The Department of Defense is currently considering for deployment as theater missile defense interceptors certain systems determined to comply with the ABM Treaty, including PAC3, THAAD, Navy Lower Tier, and Navy Upper Tier (also known as Navy Wide Area Defense).

(5) In the case of the ABM Treaty, as with all other arms control treaties to which the United States is signatory, each signatory bears the responsibility of ensuring that its actions comply with the treaty, and the manner of such compliance need not be a subject of negotiation between the signatories.

(b) Sense of Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that the theater missile defense systems currently considered for deployment by the Department of Defense comply with the ABM Treaty.

(c) Deployment of Systems.--The Secretary of Defense may proceed with the development, testing, and deployment of the theater missile defense systems currently considered for deployment by the Department of Defense.