Q: Secretary Cohen, could you respond to criticism by some in Congress that at Helsinki the United States made concessions that will hamper its ability to develop battlefield [inaudible] defenses.
SECRETARY COHEN:
I noticed from this morning's news that the Helsinki agreement was described by the Russian Duma as being a crushing defeat for the Russians. So I would put it in the context that apparently they feel very badly about the agreement in Russia; that Russia gave up too much.
As a matter of fact, we did not give up anything that would impede our ability to conduct our theater missile defense testing systems. This is completely in accord with the 1996 Defense Authorization Act, the so-called demarcation agreement, and nothing would preclude carrying out our present plans. So it's entirely consistent with the act that was signed this past year, and I think it's a very good agreement for the United States.