NORTON INTRODUCES NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT BILL;
SAYS NECESSARY FOR DOMESTIC NEEDS AND TO CONTAIN NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Sean Gralton
July 16, 1999
(202) 225-8050
Web Site: http://www.house.gov/norton

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
District of Columbia

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Washington, D.C. - Today, on the 54th anniversary of the first nuclear test at Alamagordo, New Mexico, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) introduced the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999 (NDECA). NDECA will require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons when all other nations possessing nuclear weapons enact laws to do the same. NDECA further provides that when our nuclear weapons are dismantled, the resources used to support nuclear weapons programs will be diverted to our growing human and infrastructure needs, such as housing, health care, Social Security and the environment. Norton introduced this bill following a referendum in the District in 1992, requesting that the D.C. Delegate to Congress prepare a constitutional amendment to bring about nuclear disarmament and economic conversion.

In addition to the economic cost of nuclear weapons, Norton said that the weapons continue to be "a horrifically destabilizing force in world affairs," specifically noting the burgeoning arms race between India and Pakistan. "Recent events on the Indian subcontinent demonstrate the urgent need for passage of my bill," she said. "The United States and the world community clearly must redouble their efforts to obtain commitments from India and Pakistan to refrain from actual deployment of nuclear weapons." She said that the U.S. would be able to dissuade other nations who aspire to become nuclear powers if "we ourselves have been willing to take the initiative in dismantling our own nuclear weapons program."

Norton said that with 40 million people still without health care, and the same poverty rate as existed in the minority community 25 years ago, the time has come to begin the transfer of nuclear weapons funds to urgent domestic needs. In the 56-year period between 1940 to 1996, nuclear weapons spending exceeded the combined total federal spending for education; training, employment, and social services; agriculture, natural resources and the environment; general science, space, and technology; community and regional development (including disaster relief); law enforcement; and energy production and regulation. On average, the United States has spent $98 billion a year on nuclear weapons over that time. Norton said, "Surely the time has come to significantly bring down the average annual spending on nuclear weapons from $98 billion a year."

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Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999 (Introduced in the House)

HR 2545 IH

106th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2545

To provide for nuclear disarmament and economic conversion in accordance with District of Columbia Initiative Measure Number 37 of 1992.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES July 16, 1999
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committee on International Relations, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

A BILL

To provide for nuclear disarmament and economic conversion in accordance with District of Columbia Initiative Measure Number 37 of 1993

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the "Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999".

SEC 2. REQUIREMENT FOR NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND ECONOMIC CONVERSION.

(1) disable and dismantle all its nuclear weapons and refrain from replacing them at any time with any weapons of mass destruction;
(2) redirect resources that are currently being used for nuclear weapons programs to use-

(A) in converting all nuclear weapons industry employees, processes, plants, and programs smoothly to constructive, ecologically beneficial peacetime activities during the 3 years following the effective date of this Act, and
(B) in addressing human and infrastructure needs such as housing, health care, education, agriculture, and enviromnental restoration;
(3) undertake vigorous good faith efforts to eliminate war, armed conflict, and all military operations; and
(4) actively promote policies to induce all other countries to join in these commitments for world peace and security.

SEC. 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This Act shall take effect when the President certifies to the Congress that all foreign countries possessing nuclear weapons have established legal requirements comparable to those set forth in section 2 and those requirements have taken effect.


#####

ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
District of Columbia

Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

STATEMENT OF ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON
ON THE INTRODUCTION OF THE:
NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND ECONOMIC CONVERSION ACT

July 16, 1999

Long after the end of the Cold War and the breakup of the Soviet Union, the threat of nuclear weapons remains. Today, the United States continues to possess around 7,300 operational nuclear warheads, and the other declared nuclear powers--Russia, Great Britain, France, and China--are estimated to possess over 10,000 operational warheads. Furthermore, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, especially in countries in unstable regions, is now one of the leading military threats to the national security of the United States and its allies.

The United States, as the sole remaining superpower and the leading nuclear power in the world, has an obligation to take bold steps toward encouraging other nuclear powers to eliminate their arsenals and to prevent the proliferation of these weapons. That is why I have chosen today, on the 54th anniversary of the first test of a nuclear explosive in Alamogordo, New Mexico, to introduce the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of 1999. The bill would require the United States to disable and dismantle its nuclear weapons and to refrain from replacing them with weapons of mass destruction once foreign countries possessing nuclear weapons enact and execute similar requirements.

My bill also provides that the resources used to sustain our nuclear weapons program be used to address human and infrastructure needs such as housing, health care education, agriculture, and the environment. By eliminating our nuclear weapons arsenal, the United States can realize an additional "peace dividend" from which to fund critical domestic initiatives, including new programs proposed in the Administration's FY 2000 budget.

Many courageous leaders from the United States and from around the world have spoken out on the obsolescence of nuclear weapons and the need for their elimination. Those leaders include retired Air Force General Lee Butler and more than 60 other retired generals and admirals from 17 nations, who, on December 5, 1996, issued a statement that "the continuing existence of nuclear weapons in the armories of nuclear powers, and the ever-present threat of acquisition of these weapons by others, constitute a peril to global peace and security and to the safety and survival of the people we are dedicated to protect" and that the "creation of a nuclear weapons-free world [is] necessary [and] possible."

Recent events on the Indian subcontinent demonstrate the urgent need for passage of my bill. Last year, in defiance of the nonproliferation efforts of the United States and the world community, India detonated several underground nuclear test devices, after it had refrained from doing so since its first nuclear test in 1973. Pakistan, a neighboring country with which India has fought three wars since the British colonial period ended in 1947, soon followed suit with its own nuclear tests. The trading of nuclear tests last year between India and Pakistan were a source of heightened concern as armed skirmishes persisted last month in the disputed Kashmir region adjoining those two nations.

The United States and the world community clearly must redouble their efforts to obtain commitments from India and Pakistan to refrain from actual deployment of nuclear weapons, as well as to contain other countries that aspire to become nuclear powers, such as Iran, Iraq, and North Korea, from moving forward with their programs. However, the United States will be far more credible and persuasive in these efforts if we are willing to take the initiative in dismantling our own nuclear weapons program and helping arms industries to convert plants arid employees to providing products and services that enhance the wealth and quality of life of ordinary citizens. I ask my colleagues to cosponsor the Nuclear Disarmament and Economic Conversion Act of l 999 and for the committees with jurisdiction over the bill to mark it up quickly so that it can be considered and passed by the full House.


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