John Spratt: “I will admit that this draft that we have before us does smooth the sharpest edges off the original earlier drafts that…”

“I will admit that this draft that we have before us does smooth the sharpest edges off the original earlier drafts that dealt with ballistic missile defense and the ABM Treaty. But this bill would require the President to renegotiate the treaty with the Russians now, when START II has yet to be ratified, and the politics in Russia are hardly propitious for ratification. Second, it would imply that the United States should break out of the treaty if the Russians do not agree to the amendments we want, permitting multiple sites, unlimited interceptors, and space-based sensors, and it would require the testing of a chemical laser in orbit in 1999, which would be a violation of the treaty. I believe that we should develop and deploy a ground-based missile defense system. I think we will also want to deploy space-based sensors, and I think that both of these features, plus more, will probably require changes and revisions in the ABM Treaty, but nothing requires us to negotiate those changes just now, right now.”