J. Exon: “Mr. President, there is obviously some serious misunderstanding here, because Senator Kyl has not correctly stated the…”

“Mr. President, there is obviously some serious misunderstanding here, because Senator Kyl has not correctly stated the existing law by suggesting that any other nuclear state could conduct a nuclear test after September 30, and before the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is entered into, but the United States could not. This is simply not true. If any nation tests after September 30, the law stipulates that all restrictions on U.S. testing are limited. It is a basic tenet of the Hatfield-Mitchell-Exon law. The only effect of the law is that the United States will not be the first nation to test after September 30. Would Senator Kyl agree with this correction? I ask him to do it on his time because I am almost out of time. Senator Kyl has also said that his amendment would allow for a resumption of testing for 'safety and reliability' reasons only. I say to my friend from Arizona, if he can show me where in his amendment it states the testing would have to be done for 'safety and reliability' only. I have looked and I cannot find it. The way I read his amendment, a resumption of U.S. testing could be for any reason whatever. I reserve the balance of my time.”