DATE=10/6/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=ALBRIGHT - ARMS CONTROL (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254743
BYLINE=RICHARD CUSHING
DATELINE=SAN FRANCISCO, CA
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  President Clinton is making an all-out effort 
to avert defeat in the Senate for one of his key 
foreign-policy priorities, a global ban on underground 
nuclear testing. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright 
was in California Wednesday to support the cause.  
More from Richard Cushing at Stanford University.

TEXT:  Secretary of State Albright gave a luncheon 
speech at the Hoover Institution, a prestigious so-
called "think tank" of distinguished scientists and 
academics, in the heart of this country's computer 
industry, in strong support of the Comprehensive Test 
Ban Treaty.

The treaty needs a two-thirds vote in the Senate if it 
is to be ratified, but more than 40 Senators are said 
to be in opposition. They contend that it is 
unverifiable and would limit this country's ability to 
test its won nuclear arsenal, even though it no longer 
relies on underground testing, but only on computer 
technology.

If the Senate fails to ratify the treaty, Secretary 
Albright said, it would - in her words - give a green 
light to those who may want to conduct nuclear 
explosive tests and could one day do us great harm.  
And she went on:

            /// ALBRIGHT ACTUALITY ///

      We will have cut the legs out from under our own 
      diplomatic efforts to persuade Pakistan and 
      India to sign and ratify the CTBT, thereby 
      making a very dangerous nuclear arms race in 
      South Asia more likely.  We will have thrown
      away a valuable tool in slowing the 
      modernization of China's nuclear arsenal.  We 
      will have disregarded the counsel of allies and 
      friends.  We will have ignored the best national 
      security advice of our top military leaders.  We 
      will have denied the vision and betrayed the 
      dream of two presidents who first proposed the 
      comprehensive test ban, Dwight Eisenhower and 
      John Kennedy.  We will have missed a priceless 
      chance to improve our ability to detect and 
      deter nuclear tests.

            /// END ACTUALITY ///

Secretary Albright also deplored the two-billion-
dollar cut made by the U.S. Congress in the budget 
proposal for international affairs, calling it a 
serious threat to this country's security, and said 
she would urge the president to veto the measure.  
(Signed)

NEB/RC/TVM/gm



06-Oct-1999 21:42 PM EDT (07-Oct-1999 0142 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.