DATE=4/28/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=COHEN ARMS CONTROL (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261784
BYLINE=JIM RANDLE
DATELINE=PENTAGON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Defense Secretary William Cohen says the 
Clinton Administration is pressing ahead with arms 
control efforts, in spite of fierce criticism from 
Moscow and a powerful member of the U-S Senate.  V-O-
A's Jim Randle reports from the Pentagon, where top 
Russian officials have been getting briefings on the 
latest U-S defense proposals.


TEXT:  Defense Secretary William Cohen says President 
Clinton has been working for years on agreements to 
reduce nuclear arms around the world because this will 
make Americans safer.

Mr. Cohen was apparently reacting to accusations by 
Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jesse Helms that Mr. 
Clinton was willing to make bad arms control 
agreements with Moscow just to prop up his place in 
history.

            /// Cohen Act ///

      So this is not something that is a last minute 
      item on the agenda for President Clinton and any 
      form of legacy he might seek to achieve.  He has 
      been dedicated to reducing the level of 
      strategic armaments and has worked diligently in 
      that effort.

            /// End Act ///

President Clinton's final term in the White House ends 
early next year and his critics say he has reason to 
worry about his legacy because of the earlier sex-and-
lies scandal that threatened to drive him from office. 

Administration officials must take Senator Helm's 
views into account because Washington's treaties can't 
take effect without Senate approval, and he is the 
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

The North Carolina Republican says he will block 
action on any arms treaties until a new President 
takes office.

He takes particular aim at administration plans to 
make changes in the key Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty 
with Moscow.  Mr. Helms says he won't even hold 
hearings on a revised treaty and thinks the current 
pact should be ripped up.

Without amendments, the A-B-M treaty blocks deployment 
of a possible system to protect the United States from 
attacks by a dozen or so missiles launched by rogue 
nations such as North Korea or Iran.

Many Republicans strongly support National Missile 
Defense, called N-M-D, but Russia adamantly opposes 
the system.

Moscow warns that if Washington continues work on the 
N-M-D, Russia might pull out of a whole network of 
arms control agreements that have cut thousands of 
nuclear weapons from the arsenals of both nations.

Spokesman Craig Quigley says top U-S officials briefed 
Russia's foreign minister here at the Pentagon 
Wednesday.

The U-S experts told the Russian official the proposed 
American missile defense system would be able to shoot 
down only a handful of (EDS: few) missiles, and so is 
irrelevant to Moscow, which could launch hundreds of 
weapons.

But the Admiral Quigley admits Moscow is unconvinced.

            /// Quigley Act ///

      Clearly we have work to do, and some tough 
      diplomatic work ahead of us.

            /// End Act ///

Meantime, the N-M-D faces a crucial test in late June 
when engineers will try again to hit a simulated 
missile warhead in space with an interceptor rocket.

The N-M-D has hit one target and missed another in 
previous tests.

Defense Secretary Cohen says he will use the next test 
to help him craft a recommendation to the President to 
build or scrap the system.   (Signed)

NEB/JR/JP




27-Apr-2000 16:42 PM EDT (27-Apr-2000 2042 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.