Patrick Leahy: “The centerpiece of the policy is the administration's announcement that they will eliminate, in 6 years, all persistent…”

“The centerpiece of the policy is the administration's announcement that they will eliminate, in 6 years, all persistent or 'dumb' landmines that remain lethal indefinitely. First, let me say that any decision by this or any other administration to eliminate any type of landmine is a positive step. I concur with the administration on this. These indiscriminate weapons do not belong in the arsenal of the world's only superpower. Actually, they do not belong in the arsenal of any civilized nation. They do not differentiate between a child and a soldier. They are inhumane. They should be banned. I have traveled to many parts of the world, sometimes in places where we use the Leahy War Victims Fund. I have seen those who have been crippled and disfigured by landmines. My wife is a nurse. Before she retired, she was on a medical surgical unit. She has gone into some of the surgery wards in these countries where a child had a limb blown off, and it had to be reamputated to fit a prosthesis. It is terrible.”