Pete Domenici: “fellow Senators, first of all, it should be understood by everyone that this language which is being stricken does not…”

“fellow Senators, first of all, it should be understood by everyone that this language which is being stricken does not permit the United States of America to build any new nuclear weapons--large, small, medium-sized, or otherwise. There is no authority in this bill to build new nuclear weapons. No. 2, this bill says that in Nevada we used to test nuclear weapons for decades. Whenever our nuclear laboratory experts used to certify to our Presidents that the weapons were in good shape, ready, reliable, available, and safe, they did it principally because we had a testing ground in Nevada, and we tested bombs to know precisely their efficacy, reliability, et cetera. When we decided to no longer test, we essentially closed down or put that test facility in mothballs. But we knew we must always keep it in case we needed it. We left it there, saying if we ever need it, we can use it in 3 years. All this amendment does--it could be a totally freestanding amendment, if one wanted, but it is part of the amendment that the Senator from California strikes--is say let us upgrade that Nevada Test Site so if we need it, we can use it in 1/2 years. There are few American nuclear experts who do not think 1/2 years is the correct amount--not 3 but 1/2. That has nothing to do with us setting about to build a brand new small nuclear weapon. It has nothing to do with us building a stockpile of new weapons. It has to do with just what I explained and nothing else.…”