Political Quotes

“last year an amendment to the Fiscal Year 1996 Defense Authorization bill which I sponsored with 49 other senators, both Democrats and Republicans, to impose a 1-year moratorium on the use of anti-personnel landmines, except along international borders and in demilitarized zones, passed the Senate on August 4 of last year by a vote of 67 to 27. It was signed into law by President Clinton on February 12 of this year. Support for the moratorium has broadened in the Congress since then, due to the extraordinary media attention this issue has received and the experience of our troops in Bosnia. Recently, it came to my attention that the House National Security Committee included a provision in its version of the fiscal year 1996 Defense authorization bill, which would effectively nullify my amendment. This provision is identical to a provision the House included last year, but which was deleted in the conference. While I do not question the motives of the authors of that provision, I have communicated my concerns about it to Chairman Thurmond, as well as Senators Warner and Nunn. I have made clear that not only does this provision undermine the position of two-thirds of the Senate, it is totally unnecessary and premature since the moratorium would not take effect until February 1999.”