DATE=10/1/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SENATE-TEST BAN (L-UPDATE)
NUMBER=2-254567
BYLINE=DAVID SWAN
DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  The U-S Senate has scheduled a vote this month 
on whether to ratify the worldwide nuclear test ban 
treaty.  As V-O-A's David Swan reports, President 
Clinton's Democratic allies have reluctantly accepted 
the terms for the debate, which they fear could go 
against the administration.

TEXT:  While the president and his supporters have 
pushed for a vote on the treaty, this scenario is not 
the one they wanted.  Democrats were caught off guard 
when Republicans suddenly offered to bring the pact to 
the Senate floor, where the opposition lawmakers 
believe they have the votes to kill it.

However, Democrats have agreed to start debate next 
Friday (10/8), with the vote on ratification to come 
the following week.  Though they complain bitterly 
about the Republican tactics, Democrats say this deal 
is the best they can hope for.  Delaware Senator 
Joseph Biden bluntly summed up the situation. 

            /// Biden act ///

      We have no choice.  Our choice is either let it 
      (the treaty) die by attrition and no one be held 
      accountable or take a shot at it and have the 
      president and all of us make the strongest case 
      we can between now and the time of the vote as 
      to why this is so overwhelmingly significant to 
      my grandchildren.

            /// end act ///

One-hundred-and-52 countries have signed the test ban, 
but nuclear-capable states have been slow to ratify 
it.  The treaty's supporters say U-S approval will 
spur other nations to follow suit, hopefully including 
nuclear rivals India and Pakistan as well as China and 
Russia.

But Republican critics say the treaty means unilateral 
disarmament for the United States.  Majority Leader 
Trent Lott argues the country needs the freedom to 
test its weapons and maintain its nuclear stockpile. 

            /// Lott act ///

      But if we can not be assured of the safety and 
      reliability of these weapons then that goes 
      right to the heart of the whole issue.  Before 
      you get to discussion about what it means to 
      Pakistan or North Korea, you need to know what 
      is going to happen over a period of time in 
      terms of safety, risk to people.

            /// end act ///

As of now, the test ban is considered to be far short 
of ratification.  A two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, 
is needed, which means 22 Republicans would have to 
vote for the treaty.  So far, only a few Republicans 
are believed ready to do so.

The Clinton administration has promised an all-out 
campaign for the treaty in the days ahead.  Defense 
Secretary William Cohen is cutting short an East Asian 
trip to return to Washington for a White House 
strategy meeting Monday.  But the president is facing 
an uphill fight for one of the last big foreign policy 
goals of his term. (Signed)

NEB/DS/JP




01-Oct-1999 16:24 PM EDT (01-Oct-1999 2024 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.