EXTENSIONS of REMARKS 24939 EXTENSIONS of REMARKS ARMS RACE RESOLUTION Ty Are Often More Visible Than Signs of Hope

September 20, 1983 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS 24939 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS ARMS RACE RESOLUTION ty are often more visible than signs of hope. Recent studies reveal that during the We are called to see beyond our own limited period from 1978 to 1982 conventional arms HON. BOB EDGAR horizons, to view the world through the transfer agreements between developing eyes of Christ. countries and the arms suppliers have to OF PENNSYLVANIA When, as Christ's people, we see the taled $120 billion. The non-Communist IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES burden of the arms race on the creation, on world has accounted for $76 billion of this nations, and on all peoples, we are com Tuesday, September 20, 1983 total, the Communist world $44 billion. The pelled to renew our commitment to achiev Soviet Union has sold $33 billion and the •Mr. EDGAR. Mr. Speaker, this past ing disarmament in ways that will guaran United States, $30 billion. While sales and week I received-as did all my congres tee the peace, security, and integrity of all agreements vary from year to year, the sional colleages-a most powerful and peoples. trend has been ever upward. Each super Numerous aspects of the arms race, with compelling resolution on the many di far-reaching implications for our own socie power has its preferred clients, depending mensions of the arms race. It comes ty and the whole world, challenge us in this on its ideological and strategic interest. from the general assembly of the Pres witness. There are factors that disturb the For the merchants the arms trade has the byterian Church U.S.A. The assembly stability of societies, that alter the physical deceptively easy appearance of being "good is the highest governing body of the environments in which we live, that deplete business" because the focus is on the imme church which has a membership of limited economic and natural resources, diate realization of high profits, not on the that heighten the risks and broaden the pa long-range impact of the arms race on socie over 3 million. It is a representative ju ty. Costs <research, development, tooling, dicatory composed of an equal number rameters of potential conflict. The church in its witness must help to etc.) are distributed over a greater quantity of ministers and lay officers-known nurture change in public attitudes, raise when weapons are produced for export and as elders-elected by the 195 presby public consciousness about the issues, and not just for domestic use, thereby reducing teries of the denomination. examine the values that shape the decision the costs per item. This consitutes an advan What I found compelling in the reso making forces in our society. To this end tage particularly beneficial to the initiator lution was not only the support for a the United Presbyterian Church addresses of new weapons. nuclear freeze but the thoughful and several of these matters as it renews its For the selling country, arms sales can be responsible manner by which the as commitment to witness for peace. a source of hard currency or a way of re THE DYNAMICS dressing balance of payment deficitS. Sales sembly dealt with the many aspects also tend to fix seller-buyer relations be and dimensions of the worldwide arms A. Nuclear Armaments cause they inevitably involve further train race. It calls for renewed efforts The primary global threat comes from the ing, service, and parts agreements. toward a Comprehensive Test Ban escalating and accelerating nuclear arms Buyers often presume they are enhancing Treaty. It urges the Goverriment not race and has been addressed by the church the security of their countries because they to deploy new missile systems in on numerous occasions. Despite the atten are conditioned to think of security in mili Europe. It addresses other dimensions tion given the nuclear arms race at the tary terms. They also tend to assume that United Nations Special Session on Disarma modem armaments facilitate the economic of the arms race: The growing interna ment <1982), the professed commitment of tional arms trade and the increased modernization of their societies. More fre the United States administration to reach qently, insecurity and economic dislocation levels of violence that are the result of meaningful arms agreements involving sub occur because expenditures on arms imports that trade; the distorted national pri stantial reductions in nuclear strategic and can only weaken the domestic economy. orities that are reflected in the ener theatre weapons, and the ongoing multilat gies of our scientists devoted to mili eral and bilateral negotiations in Geneva, C. Military Research and Development tary research and development; and the evidence is clear that the nuclear arms The relationship between the arms race race will be with us for at least another and technological imperatives has long been the growing emphasis on military use decade. Clear actions that would give some of space. It not only spotlights these debated. Technocrats often argue simply sign of hope are avoided. The administra from the logic of development: If new tech areas of concerns but suggests several tion opposes an immediate bilateral nuclear nology makes a new weapon possible, that innovative solutions to reverse these freeze and refuses to press for the ratifica weapon is then seen as necessary and should dangerous trends. tion of Salt II. It has discontinued negotia be produced. Others argue that weapons I urge all Members to give careful tions on a comprehensive test ban treaty technology development always proceeds consideration to the following resolu and is pursuing plans that will mean aban from the political decision-makers. These tion. doning the Antiballistic Missile Treaty. At arguments do not obscure the obvious. the same time that Congress has moved THE ARM:s RACE: CONTINUING DYNAMICS 1. Military research and development are toward the endorsement of a nuclear freeze, estimated to consume one fourth of the Approved by the 195th General Assembly it has also approved the financing and de entire world expenditure for research and <1983), Presbyterian Church <U.S.A.), velopment of major weapons systems: the development for all purposes-in excess of June 1983 MX Missile, the B-1 Bomber, the Cruise $35 billion in 1980. They further occupy the STATEMEN"T OF CONCERN missile, and the Trident submarine. At the talents and energies of over 3 million of the We are Christ's people. We live by faith in same time the Soviet Union has announced world's scientists and engineers. In the the God who is the source of life, the Lord plans of their own for matching United United States this represents 40 percent of of all nations and peoples, the judge of his States advances. our scientific resources. tory and the giver of grace experienced by B. The Arms Trade 2. Military research and development in us as Shalom-peace. In responding to While the whole world teeters on the crease the sophistication of weapons sys God's grace, the church seeks to bear wit brink of nuclear disaster, various parts of tems. In addition to the refinement of nu ness to Christ, the Prince of Peace, by nour the world have been undergoing their own clear systems with enhanced accuracy and ishing the moral life of the nation for the catastrophes. Local, regional, and civil wars faster delivery times, the superpowers are sake of peace. The times call for a faithful have claimed 25,000,000 lives since World working on weapons utilizing high energy and obedient people. We are called to be War II. These wars are often fought with sources, e.g., lasers and particle beams. faithful stewards of God in the created weapons supplied by the industrial powers Chemical and biological weapons, mostly de order. We are called to be reconcilers in a from both the East and the West. In count veloped in secret, represent unknown de world divided by historic, political, ideologi less situations the militarization of develop structive potentials. Antipersonnel weapons, cal, racial, and cultural barriers. We are ing countries is accompanied by extreme re e.g., cluster and combustion bombs, seem called to work for justice in a world where pression of the peoples in those countries by only to become more diabolical as our inven the patterns of violence and human depravi- their own governments. tiveness progresses. e This "bullet" symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by the Member on the floor. 11-059 0-87-22 (Pt. 18) :"' - 24940 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS September 20, 1983 3. Military· research and development the administration, or even to enjoin the 1. Renews its efforts to seek an end to the moneys reflect diversion of resources from government to adhere to the law on the nuclear arms race by: purposes that could be more constructive grounds that the court cannot make politi a. Reaffirming its endorsement of a bilat and beneficial for the whole human family. cal determinations or rule on the foreign eral verifiable freeze on the testing, produc The consequences are numerous and pro policy powers of the President. tion, and deployment of nuclear weapons, found: In the Third World such a diversion Further, the decision-making exigencies of missiles, and new aircraft designed primari can severely inhibit economic development. strategic nuclear war often foreclose even ly to deliver such weapons; For the United States, caught in economic congressional participation as constitution b. Commending those synods, presbyter stagnation with slow economic growth, the ally required in matters related to war. ies, and congregations that have endorsed economic diversion restricts development in The military-industrial orientation of our the Bilateral Nuclear Weapons Freeze and the consumer and production sectors of our economy, with its heavy social costs, weak encouraging other governing bodies and society.

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