Moratorium extended on U.S. nuclear testing - President Bill Clinton speech - Transcript

US Department of State Dispatch,  July 12, 1993  

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President Clinton

Excerpts from radio address, Washington, DC, July 2, 1993

Because of the vigilance, the democratic values, the military strength of the United States and our allies, we won the Cold War. Our inheritance, our victory is a new chance to rebuild our economies and solve our problems in each of our countries while we reduce military spending. But our profound responsibility remains to redefine what it means to preserve security in this post-Cold War era. We must be strong; we must be resolute; and we must be safe.

This great task has certainly changed with the passage of the Cold War. The technologies of mass destruction in the hands of Russia and the United States are being reduced. But technologies of mass destruction that just a few years ago were possessed only by a handful of nations, and still are possessed only by a few, are becoming more widely available. It is now theoretically possible for many countries to build missiles, to have nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. This is a new and different challenge that requires new approaches and new thinking.

During my campaign for President, I promised a wholehearted commitment to achieving a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. A test ban can strengthen our efforts worldwide to halt the spread of nuclear technology in weapons. Last year, the Congress directed that a test ban be negotiated by 1996. And it established an interim moratorium on nuclear testing while we reviewed our requirements for further tests. That moratorium on testing expires soon.

Congress said that after the moratorium expires, but before a test ban was achieved, the United States could carry out up to 15 nuclear tests to ensure the safety and reliability of our weapons. After a thorough review, my Administration has determined that the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal are safe and reliable.

Additional nuclear tests could help us prepare for a test ban and provide for some additional improvements in safety and reliability. However, the price we would pay in conducting those tests now by undercutting our own non-proliferation goals and ensuring that other nations would resume testing outweighs these benefits.

I have, therefore, decided to extend the current moratorium on U.S. nuclear testing at least through September of next year, as long as no other nation tests. And I call on the other nuclear powers to do the same. If these nations will join us in observing this moratorium, we will be in the strongest possible position to negotiate a comprehensive test ban and to discourage other nations from developing their own nuclear arsenals.

If, however, this moratorium is broken by another nation, I will direct the Department of Energy to prepare to conduct additional tests while seeking approval to do so from Congress. I, therefore, expect the Department to maintain a capability to resume testing.

To assure that our nuclear deterrent remains unquestioned under a test ban, we will explore other means of maintaining our confidence in the safety, the reliability, and the performance of our own weapons. We will also refocus much of the talent and resources of our nation's nuclear labs on new technologies to curb the spread of nuclear weapons and verify arms control treaties.

Beyond these significant actions, I am also taking steps to revitalize the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, so that it can play an active role in meeting the arms control and nonproliferation challenges of this new era. I am committed to protecting our people, deterring aggression, and combatting terrorism. The work of combatting proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is difficult and unending, but it is an essential part of this task. It must be done.

COPYRIGHT 1993 U.S. Government Printing Office
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