1997 Congressional Material

General Matters

• On March 11, Rep. Frank inserted into the Congressional Record Clifford Krauss' article from the New York Times, "Japan Hesitant About U.S. Antimissile Project, " to show his wariness of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the U.S. and Japan.
• Rep. Dellums has a defense budget plan, inserted into the Record on March 13.
• On March 17, House Speaker Gingrich placed the development of a national missile defense system on the priority list for this year's Congressional agenda.
• On April 9, Rep. Solomon requested the insertion of an excerpt from the "National Security Report," criticizing the Clinton Administration for lack of funding for missile defenses.
• On the same day, Sen. Helms called for the "description of progress made" of ballistic missile defense programs as a condition for the passage of the Chemical Weapons Convention. See this excerpt from Senate Executive Resolution 75. (Notice the similarity between Kyl's Bill and Helms' Resolution.)
• On April 24, Rep. Gilman introduced the European Security Act of 1997, H.R. 1431, which advocated NATO expansion and cooperation with Russia in the field of ballistic missile defense.
• Senate majority leader Trent Lott sent a letter to the President arguing that the Administration has not fully consulted the Senate when making maneuvers relevant to the ABM Treaty, and therefore the Senate should be wary of passing the Chemical Weapons Convention. The letter was entered into the Record April 24.
• See a similar letter Sen. Lott sent to President Clinton, entered into the Record on April 24.
• The White House's reply to Sen. Lott's letters was also entered into the Record on April 24.
• The President himself also sent a reply to Sen. Lott, entered into the Record on the same day.
• Sen. Lott argued for the Administration's cooperation on the ABM Demarcation and Multilateralization Agreements on April 24.
• On April 24, Sen. Inhofe harkened back to Ronald Reagan's conditions for agreeing to a chemical weapons convention, including the deployment of theatre missile defense and strategic defense initiative systems.
• Rep. Weldon, during debates on the effects of NAFTA, argued how cuts in defense spending have also hurt American workers. He suggested that military spending should increase, pointing to the need to create more jobs and to the lack of advancement in national missile defense and theatre missile defense development. April 29.
• Sen. Sessions, on April 25, expressed his concerns over the Chemical Weapons Convention and thought the ABM Treaty was "outmoded."
• On May 14, Senators debated Condition 9 to the CFE (Conventional Forces in Europe) Flank Document Agreement, adopted by the Committee on Foreign Relations during consideration of the Treaty during the previous week. (See the text for Conditions 8 [regarding the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty] and 9.) Condition 9 stipulated that the President would have to seek the "advice and consent" of the Senate for the multilateralization of the ABM Treaty. Some Senators supported the CFE Flank Agreement, but still had reservations about Condition 9. For those who supported Condition 9, see the arguments of Senators Cochran, Helms, Hagel, Hutchison, Kyl, Lott, Smith, Shelby, Thurmond, and Warner.
  For those who opposed Condition 9, see the arguments of Senators Dodd, Daschle, Feinstein, Kerry, and Levin. The resolution of ratification, including Condition 9, was agreed to during Rollcall Vote #67.
• On May 19, Secretary of Defense Cohen released the QDR (Quadrennial Defense Review), outlining the Pentagon's plans for the next four years. Senator Coats had questions about financing a national missile defense and Senator Leiberman believed the Pentagon should have focused the QDR on preparing for future high-tech wars.
• On May 20, Senator Sessions celebrated the 40th Anniversary of Army Space and Missile Defense.
• Senator Kyl, on June 18, entered into the Record an article by Sven Kraemer, who was Director of Arms Control at the National Security Council during the Reagan administration. The article is general, but makes contrasting points on Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and Clinton's alleged "dumbing down" of ballistic missile defense programs.
• On June 18, Representatives Hunter and Weldon discussed the need for the Clinton Administration to hasten the advancement of ballistic missile defense programs, especially Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).
• INHOFE -- THE ABM TREATY (Senate - October 09, 1997) A Day That Will Live in Infamy: 25th Anniversary of the A.B.M. Treaty's Ratification Should Be Its Last

Missile Threats

• House Speaker Gingrich, on April 9, appealed for the development of a missile defense system to protect against threats from Iran.

H.R. 1469 EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS

• On June 4, the Conference Report on H.R. 1469 [excerpt] contained restrictions on the Defense Department regarding the management of national missile defense operations.

Defend America Act of 1997

• S.7 National Missile Defense Act of 1997, introduced January 2, 1997 as one of ten bills that are core Republican agenda, with some remarks by Sen. Lott.
• On January 21, Mr. Lugar introduced the "DEFEND THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ACT OF 1997" designed to state the national missile defense policy of the United States
• On January 23, Sen. Abraham reintroduced this proposal of creating a ballistic missile defense system that would be intended to protect the U.S. from accidental missile launches or terrorist missile attacks.
• On April 30, Sen. Thurmond submitted, without amendment, S.7 - for the deployment of a national missile defense system.

S. 495 Chemical and Biological Threat Reductions Act of 1997

• Updates on ballistic missile defense programs were requested in the Chemical and Biological Threat Reductions Act of 1997 (S. 495), which passed in the Senate (53 to 44) on April 17. See the missile defense excerpts of this Bill, sponsored by Sen. Kyl.

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 - House

• On June 19, the House started consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998. See Section 3131 of the Defense Authorization Act stipulating that the Secretary of Energy will be able to establish a program and task force to coordinate the research of national laboraties for ballistic missile defenses.
• On June 19, Rep. Dellums expressed his support for the Nunn-Lugar funds that helped dismantle Russian missiles but expressed his disapproval of the push for more spending on missile defenses in the US (excerpt).
• On June 19, Rep. Pickett hailed the Military R&D Subcommittee's work on missile defense (excerpt).
• On the same day, Rep. Underwood expressed his support for the missile defense provisions in the House National Defense Authorization Act (excerpt).
• On June 19, Rep. Vento took issue with the House Defense Authorization Bill, arguing that it allocated too much money for missile defense and yet decreased spending for the Nunn-Lugar program that funds Russia to dismantle its missiles.
• Rep. Weldon explained why the Defense Authorization Bill allocated more money this year to missile defense. Also on June 19, he again expressed his support for more spending on missile defense programs (excerpt).

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 - Senate

MISSILE DEFENSE

• In the Senate on June 19, Senator Inhofe supported the Defense Authorization Bill, saying that it could finally finish the national missile defense program that Reagan started in 1983 (excerpt).
• On June 19, Senator Thurmond approved of increased spending on missile defense programs under the Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 1998 (excerpt).
• On July 8, Sen. Conrad submitted an amendment calling for the construction of a limited national missile defense system based on the Minuteman III missile system.
• BINGAMAN AMENDMENTS Space-Based Laser program decreased by $118,000,000 also offered as INCREASED AMOUNTS FOR AIR FORCE AND NAVY FLYING HOURS and debate with Senator Lott over AMENDMENT NO. 799 (Senate - July 10, 1997)

H.R. 2386 US-Taiwan Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Cooperation Act

• GILMAN UNITED STATES-TAIWAN ANTI-BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE COOPERATION ACT (House of Representatives - November 06, 1997) to implement the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act concerning the stability and security of Taiwan and United States cooperation with Taiwan on the development and acquisition of defensive military articles.