Former Joint Chiefs Chairmen endorse
Test Ban Treaty
President Clinton, in his State of the Union address last night, urged the Senate
to approve the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty this year.
The President called broadly
for exercising responsibility “not just at home, but around the world.” He said the
United States must help to “write the international rules of the road for the 21st
century, protecting those who join the family of nations and isolating those who do not.”
One of those international rules is the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, about which
President Clinton said:
“I ask Congress to join me in pursuing an ambitious agenda
to reduce the serious threat of weapons of mass destruction. This year, four decades
after it was first proposed by President Eisenhower, a Comprehensive Nuclear
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Test Ban
is within reach. By ending nuclear testing, we can help to prevent the development of
new and more dangerous
weapons, and make it more difficult for non-nuclear states to build them.
“I am pleased to announce that four former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff --
Generals John Shalikashvili, Colin Powell and David Jones, and Admiral
William Crowe -- have endorsed this treaty, and I ask the Senate to approve it this year.”
The former Chairmen in a statement said:
“On September 22, 1997, President Clinton
submitted the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty to the United States Senate for its
advice and consent, together with six Safeguards that define the conditions under which the
United States will enter into this Treaty. These Safeguards will strengthen our commitments
in the areas of intelligence, monitoring and verification, stockpile stewardship, maintenance of our nuclear laboratories,
and test readiness.
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