Political Quotes

“In his letter, President Clinton wrote: . . . I realize that technology is changing rapidly and that it is our responsibility to explore all alternative means of destruction. . . . He continues: . . . As we go forward with our program to dispose of these dangerous weapons, we will not pass on an opportunity simultaneously to look for alternatives to incineration. I urge the House-Senate Conference to act favorably on this amendment . . . But today the American public is seeing what can happen when policy is made behind closed doors. I can only hope that those responsible for this irresponsible action simply didn't understand the impact of leaving us with language that is much, much weaker. If that's the case let me tell you as clearly as I can that your actions essentially leave us emptyhanded. Because of this indiscretion we won't have a chance to discover if there's an alternative to the baseline incineration program. Instead, the conferees have chosen to spend $12 billion on a program which the affected citizens haven't accepted--and with good reason--as a safe method of destroying chemical weapons. Recent reports of the nerve gas leak in Utah further underscore just how much is at stake. As Craig Williams, a spokesman for the Chemical Weapons Working Group put it, ``This program is 12 years behind schedule and 700 percent over budget.”