Bob Dole: “yesterday President Clinton acknowledged-- belatedly--that the post-cold-war era presents us with new national security…”

“yesterday President Clinton acknowledged-- belatedly--that the post-cold-war era presents us with new national security challenges. He stated, ``The end of communism has opened the door to the spread of weapons of mass destruction * * *.'' Unfortunately, while the President is finally willing to recognize the threat posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, he remains unwilling to seriously respond to it--with progress, as opposed to pronouncements--on national missile defense. Most Americans do not know--let me underscore--most Americans do not know that the United States has no defense against ballistic missiles. If you were to ask the average American, in fact to ask anybody in this Chamber unless they are on the Armed Services Committee, they might not know. If you were asked a question, ``If a missile, an incoming missile was headed toward Chicago, what should the President of the United States do?'' and the people will tell you in these little focus groups, ``Shoot it down''--we can't. We don't have a defense. So, if a rogue state such as North Korea launched a single missile at the United States, we could do nothing to stop its deadly flight towards an American town or city.”