Political Quotes

“I agree with Mr. Bell, and I know he worked tirelessly on the CWC. But unfortunately, Mr. Bell, who I am sure is well motivated, has not been willing to apply that same argument to antipersonnel landmines. The Vice President will not apply that argument. Many of the same people who are up here arguing for the Chemical Weapons Convention make one argument for the Chemical Weapons Convention and turn that argument completely around when it comes to antipersonnel landmines even though we face a grave danger, every day, from antipersonnel landmines. There are 100 million of antipersonnel landmines in the ground in 68 countries, where every few minutes somebody is maimed or killed by them. This is, in many ways, a greater danger to innocent people than chemical weapons. And I wish the administration, I wish Mr. Bell, I wish the Vice President, I wish others who have not made their same arguments on antipersonnel landmines that they do on chemical weapons will reconsider. Because, like chemical weapons, antipersonnel landmines are weapons we do not need. What we do need are defenses against them, because, like chemical weapons, they are easy and cheap to produce. They pose a grave threat to our troops. They are the Saturday night specials of civil wars. They kill or maim a man, woman or child every 22 minutes every day of the year. They are aptly called weapons of mass destruction in slow motion. In fact, they are the only weapon where the victim pulls the trigger.”