Tom Harkin: “According to the CBO, the ballistic missile shield mandated by the De-Fund America Act will cost between $30 and $60…”

“According to the CBO, the ballistic missile shield mandated by the De-Fund America Act will cost between $30 and $60 billion just to develop and deploy. Ironically, the very same people who insisted that President Clinton rely on the CBO in the budget negotiations are the ones now claiming that the CBO can't be trusted on the De-Fund America Act. The defunders think the CBO numbers are too high. I should state here that I don't necessarily trust the CBO numbers either--I think the numbers are way too low. For one thing, the CBO has not yet come out with specific numbers on how much this technology will cost to operate, but it has told my staff that the operational cost will be an additional 'hundred of millions dollars a year during the early stages.' I suspect the total figure will exceed $100 billion once all of the costs are calculated. Mr. President, we've already spent about $100 billion in 1996 dollars to build a technological defense against ballistic missiles. During the Reagan star wars years alone, the United States taxpayers forked over $38 billion. Proponents of this act are quick to point out that it is not star wars. And I agree. It is not even star wars. Like most sequels, this one is not as good as the original, and the price of admission has increased. The proponents of the De-Fund America Act want the taxpayers to fritter away another $100 billion on a still unrealistic but wimpier version of President Reagan's fantasy.”