Potential fallout

Senate must ratify nuclear arms treaty

It shouldn't be a controversial issue. Ever since the ratification of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty nearly 30 years ago, it has been a consistent policy goal of the United States to limit the development and spread of nuclear technology throughout the world.

Few things would be more effective at doing so than a ban on nuclear weapons testing, and yet the current proposal to do just that, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, seems unlikely to be ratified by the Senate, and may be killed outright. This would be a grave mistake: our leaders in Washington should consider the future of the people they represent and pass this treaty.

The CTBT would extend the current international ban on open-air nuclear testing to underground explosions, resulting in a complete testing ban. Compliance would be monitored with seismological equipment that can pinpoint the location and magnitude of any nuclear test. Supporters argue that without the ability to test nuclear weapons, it would be almost impossible for rogue nations to develop an effective nuclear program, stopping proliferation in its tracks and locking in our current nuclear edge.

Nations that already have a nuclear capacity, like India and Pakistan, would be unable to modernize their stockpiles with any confidence in the effectiveness of their weapons, making the current possibility of a nuclear arms race in the region that more unlikely. A world without nuclear testing would be safer and secure, supporters assert.

Critics point out that the treaty would also hamper our ability to further develop our nuclear technology, threatening our national security. They doubt whether or not we would be able to detect an underground nuclear explosion, despite past successes with India and Pakistan, and equate the treaty with unilateral disarmament.

As the treaty comes up for debate this week, senators like Jesse Helms (R-N.C.) and James Inhofe (R-Okla.) are intent on killing it, setting a dangerous precedent.

After pushing so long and so hard for nuclear restraint, after slapping trade sanctions on India and Pakistan in the wake of their nuclear foray last year, after painstakingly making clear to nations like Iraq and North Korea that attempts on their part to develop nuclear technology would not be tolerated by the international community, a turnabout now would be hypocritical and invite a renewed fervor in every nation with nuclear aspirations.

The United States has already survived nearly a decade without a nuclear test, thanks to advanced computer technology that can simulate testing in the lab.

Our nuclear stockpile remains as effective as ever, and the CTBT would do little to change this. An express provision of the treaty allows the United States to withdraw from the pact if our stockpile's effectiveness can no longer be scientifically certified. Our future is secure. The only thing that might threaten it is the defeat of the CTBT.

Sen. Carl Levin

(202) 224-6221

senator2@levin.senate.gov.

the<:0m«Sen. Spencer Abraham

(202) 224-4822

michigan@abraham.senate.gov.

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How to contact them

10-11-99