Arlen Specter: “it is well known that there is an enormous international threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. Testimony which…”

“it is well known that there is an enormous international threat posed by weapons of mass destruction. Testimony which was recently heard by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which I chair, disclosed that some 25 nations have weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and chemical weapons. In testimony offered by John Deutch in 1994, when he was Deputy Secretary of Defense, he pointed out that ``If North Koreans build the Taepo Dong II missile, Alaska and parts of Hawaii would be potentially at risk.'' I think it is not well known that parts of the United States are potentially at risk from long-range missiles. We have seen the development of biological weapons by Saddam Hussein which was confirmed last August by his son-in-law following his defection. We see the building of chemical weapons by Qadhafi noted recently by Secretary of Defense Perry with his statement that we could not tolerate the completion of those weapons of mass destruction. We have seen China sell missiles to Pakistan. We have seen the tremendous tension building up on the subcontinent with both Pakistan and India engaging in a missile race. In the United States, Mr. President, while we have noted the enormous problems on weapons of mass destruction, we have seen a governmental structure which is extraordinarily complicated and really unable to deal in a coordinated method with this tremendous problem.”