Bill Clinton: “National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 December 28, 1995 To the House of Representatives: I am…”

“National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996 December 28, 1995 To the House of Representatives: I am returning herewith without my approval H.R. 1530, the ``National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996.'' H.R. 1530 would unacceptably restrict my ability to carry out this country's national security objectives and substantially interfere with the implementation of key national defense programs. It would also restrict the President's authority in the conduct of foreign affairs and as Commander in Chief, raising serious constitutional concerns. First, the bill requires deployment by 2003 of a costly missile defense system able to defend all 50 States from a long-range missile threat that our Intelligence Community does not foresee in the coming decade. By forcing such an unwarranted deployment decision now, the bill would waste tens of billions of dollars and force us to commit prematurely to a specific technological option. It would also likely require a multiple-site architecture that cannot be accommodated within the terms of the existing ABM Treaty. By setting U.S. policy on a collision course with the ABM Treaty, the bill would jeopardize continued Russian implementation of the START I Treaty as well as Russian ratification of START II--two treaties that will significantly lower the threat to U.S. national security, reducing the number of U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear warheads by two-thirds from Cold War levels.…”