Christine Quinn: “I rise this morning to talk to our colleagues about the devastating effect of landmines. Throughout the world hundreds…”

“I rise this morning to talk to our colleagues about the devastating effect of landmines. Throughout the world hundreds of innocent civilians are maimed and killed each week by landmines, and I wonder if our colleagues know that at the current time there are over 110 million landmines buried in the earth. We also know that landmines have wounded almost 300 UN and NATO troops in Bosnia alone. It is obvious that these weapons extract a terrible toll on all humanity. Fortunately the United States has an opportunity to ban these menacing weapons. Later this year over 95 countries from around the world will meet in Ottawa, Canada to sign a treaty banning these landmines forever. In the United States we believe all of us have the greatest economic, military, and moral influence of any Nation on Earth, and it is imperative we make a commitment to get rid of these landmines. That is why the gentleman from Illinois [Mr. Evans] and I, along with over 160 of our colleagues from both sides of the aisle, have asked the President to join that Ottawa treaty.”