ACCESSION NUMBER:219451
FILE ID:EP-506
DATE:03/13/92
TITLE:SEN. LIEBERMAN ASKS MORE PRESSURE FOR JOINING MTCR (03/13/92)
TEXT:*92031306.EPF
*EPF506 03/13/92 *
SEN. LIEBERMAN ASKS MORE PRESSURE FOR JOINING MTCR
(Text: Sen. Lieberman in Congressional Record) (500)
1ashington -- Senator Joseph Lieberman (Democrat of Connecticut) says "More
pressure must be brought to bear on all nations to join the missile
technology control regime, the MTCR." Lieberman says "We have to work to
strengthen that regime to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles
around the globe."
In remarks on the floor of the Senate, Lieberman said, "We cannot sit by and
simply abide while nations like China and North Korea keep shipping these
dangerous weapons to nations like Iran and Syria.
"We must also enforce American laws that penalize foreign companies that
export missile components or send technicians to nations developing those
missiles," he said.
Following is the text, as it appeared in the March 11 Congressional Record:
(begin text)
Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, after several days of veiled and confusing
threats from the administration against those North Korean ships steaming
toward Iran with Scuds on board, the ships have in fact safely arrived in
the Iranian port.
Clearly, we have lost the battle of the bluff, and we stand embarrassed in
the glare of global attention. I wish the administration had stated its
position on this matter more clearly and consistently and implemented that
policy successfully. For if we cannot stop those ships from delivering
their cargo, then we certainly should have said so instead of falling back
on the threats that ultimately proved empty and embarrassing.
But as troubling as this episode in the last few days has been, I think
there is a larger point here, and we ought to magnify the significance of
the incident beyond proportion. The larger point is that Iran and Syria,
like Iraq, already have Scuds. Those are dangerous ballistic missiles that
can be equipped with warheads containing weapons of mass destruction. They
are a crude and destabilizing weapon of war that detracts from the
prospects for peace and security in the Middle East, Persian Gulf, and the
world.
In fact, it is certainly a reality of the post-cold war world that the
greatest threat to world and American security is in the spread of
primitive weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles that have the
capacity to deliver them on foreign nations.
We cannot sit by and simply abide while nations like China and North Korea
keep shipping these dangerous weapons to nations like Iran and Syria.
More pressure must be brought to bear on all nations to join the missile
technology control regime, the MTCR. I think we have to work to strengthen
that regime to prevent the proliferation of ballistic missiles around the
globe.
We must also enforce American laws that penalize foreign companies that
export missile components or send technicians to nations developing those
missiles.
We have to do all we can here on the domestic front to ensure that American
technology is not exported in a fashion that aids those nations developing
their own ballistic missile capacities.
(end text)
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