Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

WASHINGTON (July 21) - Vice President Al Gore leaves today on a three-day trip to the former Soviet Union, but Russia’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction isn’t on the agenda - a situation the Chairman of the Republican National Committee likens to "a game of Russian Roulette."

"Just last week, a bi-partisan commission unanimously told Congress that Russia ‘poses a threat to the U.S. as a major exporter of enabling technologies, including ballistic missile technologies, to countries hostile to the United States,’ including Iran," said RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson. "For the Vice President to ignore this threat during his talks with the Russians is to engage in a risky and short-sighted game of ‘Russian Roulette,’ with long-term U.S. security in the balance."

"Ignoring proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is typical of this Administration," Nicholson said. Nicholson cited President Clinton’s "repeated failure to address numerous instances of nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation by both China and Russia" as evidence of "a naïve framework that trusts, but fails to verify or enforce when violations are found."

"The Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States told us just one week ago that countries like North Korea, Iran and Iraq are acquiring ballistic missiles with biological or nuclear payloads, and that they pose a ‘growing threat’ to the United States. They are obtaining those weapons - and the technology to deliver them - from China and Russia. The Clinton-Gore administration owes the American people more than to turn its back on this emerging danger to our security and well-being."

Nicholson used the occasion to reiterate his support for development of an "effective and workable missile defense system to protect the American people in the event of a ballistic attack."

"Most Americans believe we’ve already done the right thing, with a missile defense system already in place, but the reality is that we have no such system - and the Clinton-Gore administration and its Democrat allies in the Senate are standing in the way. Instead of developing such a system, they put their faith in an outdated Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with a country that no longer even exists, the former Soviet Union. Meanwhile, they ignore Chinese and Russian proliferation of weapons and technology that makes such a system more important than ever before."