[EXCERPTS] DoD News Briefing
Thursday, March 27, 1997 - 2:30 p.m.
Mr. Kenneth H. Bacon, ASD PA
Q: The Secretary made a strong defense of the missile defense agreement from Helsinki in the speech to the Navy League. Has the Administration given him basically the job of being the point man on defending that, selling that agreement to Congress, because of his background in pushing legislation on this defense?
A: As the Secretary pointed out in that speech, he feels very strongly on this issue because he helped write the language in the 1996 Defense Authorization Act that was actually incorporated into the Helsinki understanding. That was the language that defined TMD according to the speed of the target and the range of the interceptor. So he has a lot invested in this process. He feels this is a good agreement. It's a good agreement for us because it allows us to continue with our work to protect our forces in theaters around the world, and it's a good agreement for the Russians and for us because it preserves the ABM Treaty. He feels very comfortable defending it.
He will speak out on this, one, because he has an investment in the issue; and two, because as the Secretary of Defense, this is an issue that matters a lot to him -- theater missile defense and the protection of U.S. forces.
Q: It's nothing the White House asked him to do specifically?
A: No. He decided to do this on his own, as I understand it. The White House was very pleased that he did it, obviously. It's an important breakthrough and I think a real success, one of several successes, from the meetings in Helsinki last week between President Clinton and President Yeltsin.
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