"No one should doubt our commitment to defend our interests and to work together for peace and stability in Asia," Defense Secretary William Cohen said at a joint news conference with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and their Japanese counterparts. "And this is the best way to protect both the United States and Japan."
The United States has 100,000 troops in the region, about one-third of them guarding the always tense demilitarized zone between North and South Korea.
Yesterday's agreement comes after North Korea launched a rocket over Japan on Aug. 31 in a failed attempt to send a satellite into orbit. It was the latest example of Pyongyang's aggressive program to develop long-range missiles that could one day hit American shores, U.S. officials said.
Japan has conducted preliminary studies, some with the United States, on ways to defend against missiles. The United States is developing several theater missile defense systems as well, although American scientists haven't been able to overcome technological hurdles to knock a fast-moving target out of the sky.
Now, U.S. and Japan will work together on research and development, which could lead to a missile defense system in the future. No target date was set.
Insurance companies, banks and securities firms doing business overseas and private-industry research and development would benefit from provisions tucked into the five-year, $80-billion collection of cuts moving in the House. Small businesses also would gain several breaks.
The House is expected to vote this week on the tax bill, which President Clinton has threatened to veto because it is mainly funded by projected budget surpluses.
production in its massive nuclear-weapons complex, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is expected to sign a new agreement in Vienna today for U.S. aid designed to help the displaced Russian scientists move into civilian occupations.
A House-Senate conference last week approved $20 million for the program, Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention, as part of the fiscal 1999 Defense Authorization Bill. Also called the "nuclear cities" program, it will provide "seed money . . . to move scientists into commercial roles," according to Rose Gottemoeller, director of the office of nonproliferation and national security in the Department of Energy.
The underlying purpose of the program "is to prevent a brain drain to Iran, Iraq or North Korea," according to Steve Younger, associate director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, who ran earlier versions of the program from 1992 to 1996.
Russian nuclear-weapons workers have suffered from the country's economic decline, waiting months for paychecks and enduring a severe drop in their standard of living.
09-21-98
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