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NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1997

(Senate - June 28, 1996)

[Page: S7293]

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, again, I want to say I appreciate the cooperation of the members of the Armed Services Committee on both sides of the aisle. The distinguished chairman, the distinguished Senator from Virginia, the Senator from Georgia, Senator Nunn, and their staffs have all worked diligently.

I must confess that at 11 o'clock last night, I had my doubts we would be standing here this afternoon. But the tempo was very different this morning, and a lot of really good work has been done to clear amendments and to get amendments agreed to on both sides of the aisle. So I really express my sincere appreciation to the members of the Armed Services Committee and to the staff and to the Democratic leader, for his leadership team and our leadership time who was worked to bring this bill to a conclusion.

I think to complete action on this Department of Defense authorization bill is in the best interest of the country. It will allow us to move on in regular order to the appropriations bill. I hope by getting the authorization bill done first, we can avoid some of the conflicts we have run into in the past between the appropriations and authorization bills. I am pleased we have gotten it done.

AMENDMENT NO. 4433

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that sections 231 and 232 of the bill be stricken, and I now send to the desk an amendment inserting a new section, and ask the amendment be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table. This new section deals with demarcation of theater missile defense systems between antiballistic systems.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment.

The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Mississippi [Mr. Lott], for Mr. Thurmond, proposes an amendment numbered 4433.

The amendment is as follows:

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

SEC. 237. EXTENSION OF PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS TO IMPLEMENT AN INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT CONCERNING THEATER MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEMS.

Section 235(c) of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 (Public Law 104-106; 110 Stat. 232) is amended in the matter preceding paragraph (1) by inserting `or 1997' after `fiscal year 1996'.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the amendment is agreed to.

The amendment (No. 4433) was agreed to.

MODIFICATION OF SECTION 233

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that section 233, regarding the ABM Treaty, be modified with the sense-of-the-Senate language I now send to the desk; and that the Foreign Relations Committee conduct hearings on the matter contained in section 233 before the end of the session.

While it is going to the desk, I want to say this is the proper thing to do. It is a serious matter as to how we deal with the question of multilateralization of treaties. I think the hearings are appropriate. I am glad to support this.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the section is so modified.

The modification is as follows:

Section 233 is modified to read as follows:

SEC. 233. CONVERSION OF ABM TREATY TO MULTILATERAL TREATY.

(a) Fiscal Year 1997: It is the sense of the Senate that during fiscal year 1997, the United States shall not be bound by any international agreement entered into by the President that would substantively modify the ABM Treaty, including any agreement that would add one or more countries as signatories to the treaty or would otherwise convert the treaty from a bilateral treaty to a multilateral treaty; unless the agreement is entered pursuant to the treaty making power of the President under the Constitution.

(b) Relationship to Other Law.--This section shall not be construed as superseding section 232 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (Public Law 103-337; 108 Stat. 2701) for any fiscal year other than fiscal year 1997, including any fiscal year after fiscal year 1997.