Trent Lott: “first of all, I emphasize, obviously this is a very important issue. I think it is an extremely dangerous issue in a…”

“first of all, I emphasize, obviously this is a very important issue. I think it is an extremely dangerous issue in a dangerous time. We see now uncertainty with regard to Russia and their economic condition and what is happening with loans that have been made to them I guess through the IMF. We are concerned about their continuing nuclear capability. So it is an uncertain time. They have not ratified SALT II in the Duma of Russia. And we have not determined what we are going to do about revisiting the ABM Treaty. I talked to the President's National Security Adviser, Sandy Berger, this past week about that event. I believe very strongly we are going to have to take another look at the ABM Treaty. Then, in addition to that, you have the very dangerous situation with Iraq. In today's newspaper, we have an indication that Iran may have the capability to deliver nuclear weapons beyond what most people are aware. And there is the ``scary,'' I believe is the way it was described in the newspaper today, situation with regard to North Korea. The countries that have signed that treaty, for the most part, are countries that do not have nuclear capability, so they are perfectly happy to sign it. But when you look at Russia, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Pakistan, and India, the world is still very dangerous.”