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Politics
Sinks Nuclear Weapons Cuts, Costs Taxpayers $900 Million
Washington,
D.C. - Following is a statement by Paul Sullivan, National
Security Project Director of Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS)
reacting to Sen. Bob Kerrey's (D-Neb.) efforts today to eliminate
the prohibition against cutting the U.S. nuclear arsenal to
START II levels.
Republican
Senators intent on denying President Clinton any foreign policy
legacy defeated a proposal that could have allowed the President
to reduce the number of U.S. nuclear weapons on hair-trigger
alert below the current level of 6,000 stipulated under the
START I treaty.
According
to the Congressional Budget Office, the almost party-line
vote of 51-47, on a proposal by Senator Robert Kerry (D-Neb),
may cost U.S. taxpayers an extra $900 million in the year
2001 - money the Department of Defense says it does not want
for weapons it does not need.
If
also approved by the House of Representatives, such an order
by Congress would force both the U.S. and Russia to maintain
excessive numbers of nuclear weapons on alert well after the
Cold War has ended.
As
Russian soldiers and scientists go unpaid, and with Russian
command and control computers in rapid decay, keeping excess
Russian missiles on high alert presents a serious risk to
U.S. national security due to the increased probability of
unintended launch or other accidents.
TCS
commends Senator Kerry (D-Neb), a decorated Vietnam veteran,
for his continued efforts to improve U.S. national security
and to save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.
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