Political Quotes

“at a point in our history when we have successfully avoided the Armagedonnic catastrophe of nuclear confrontation and have began the sensible process of limiting nuclear warheads by treaty, the Senate proposes to adopt a bill that could resurrect the nuclear arms race, and, in the process, jeopardize 23 years of arms control treaties. The Armed Services Committee has presented the Senate with a bill that proposes a national ballistic missile defense system. The Congressional Budget Office estimates this is a $48 billion proposition. Can we in good conscience embark on a project to doubtful feasibility and enormous cost, which only addresses one of many nuclear threats? Potential adversaries will simply channel their resources into producing delivery vehicles that the system could not defend against; submarines, cruise missiles, stealth aircraft, terrorists car bombs. In 1977, Prof. Han Bethe of Cornell University, one of the most distinguished figures of sciences in the nuclear age, during a visit to my home in upstate New York, warned me that such a plans would 1 day be presented to the Senate. On March 23, 1983, with little attention given to the technical details, President Reagan proposed an initiative which became known as the strategic defense initiative [SDI]. We have yet to work out the technical details of a national missile defense system.”