President Clinton, news conference
April 4, 1995

The Clinton Administration's ballistic missile defense program starts with a sober and clear-eyed look at the missile threat. It responds with a balanced program that emphasizes the current threat and stays well ahead of future threats and includes:

• A responsible program for national missile defense. The Administration is committed to developing by the year 2000 an NMD system that could be deployed as soon as 2003 -- well ahead of when we expect to see a long-raige threat to the United States. This approach avoids committing to a specific technology today and thus ensures deployment of the best possible NMD system if and when the threat emerges. It also avoids premature consideration of whether amendments to the ABM Treaty are needed, thereby ensuring that the two-thirds reduction in U.S. and Russian nuclear inventories mandated by START I and II remain on track.

• Defenses now against existing threats. The Administration's first priority is to provide effective theater defenses (TMDs) against short-range misssile threats we face today in the Middle East and Asia. We have requested almost $6 billion for research, development and procurement of effective TMDs.

• Staying ahead of future threats. To meet future threats the Administration is also committed to the development and deployment of a new generation of more advanced area-defense TMDs, including the Army Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and Navy "Upper Tier."

• Commitment to the ABM Treaty. The Clinton Administration believes we can preserve the ABM Treaty with Russia while also fielding the missile defenses we need,

• Dole-Gingrich, In contrast to the Administration's balanced approach to missile defense, the Dole-Gingrich plan would resurrect "Star Wars," violate the ABM Treaty, put at risk reductions in missiles and bombers carrying thousands of nuclear warheads and force us to choose a missile defense system that the Congessional Budget Office estimates will cost between $30 - $60 billion dollars to defend against a threat that is unlikely to materialize in the next 15 years.

A RECORD OF ACCOMPLISHMENT:

• Committed to developing by the year 2000 a National Mssile Defense (NMD) system that could be deployed as soon as 2003 should a long-range missile threat to our shores materialize.

• Responded to the most urgent threat we face today, short-range missiles in the Mddle East and Asia, by making Theater Mssile Defense our first priority. Since 1993 the Chnton Administration has aggressively pursued research, development and procurement of effective TMDs.

• Committed to the development and deployment of a new generation of more advanced area defense systems, including the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and the Navy Upper Tier program, to meet future threats.

• Reaffirmed with Russia in the May 1995 Clinton-Yeltsin Joint Statement that the ABM Treaty remains a cornerstone of strategic stability and that both countries have the option to establish and deploy effective TMD systems.

• President Clinton has directed his Administration to update the ABM Treaty to clarify the distinction between theater ballistic missile defenses not limited by the Treaty and strategic ballistic missile defenses limited by the Treaty.

Facts:

• Since 1993, moving to enhance U. S. security, the Cfimon Administration has requested almost $6 billion from Congress for research, development and procurement of effective TMDs, such as the Patriot, PAC-3 and Navy "Lower Tier," designed to shoot down short-range missiles :trmed with conventional chemical, biological or nuclear warheads. Patriot is in use now and the PAC-3 and Navy Lower Tier will be fielded in 1998.

• Contrary to other NMD plans being cwcussed, the Clinton Administration NMD plan allows for the deployment of a system more responsive to potential future threats by the year 2003 or thereafter, should the threat emerge, and will not jeopardize the nuclear missile reduction benefits of START I and II.

• The Dole-Gingrich NMD bill resurrects much of the Reagan Administration's old, discredited "Star Wars" concepts, including the rejected space-based missile defenses. According to a recent estimate by the Congressional Budget Office, the costs of complying with the bill would range from $31 billion to $60 billion through 2010.

• That NMD plan also diverts scarce defense dollars from modernization priorities for each of our services and from other more effective and urgent measures to address our nation's security needs, including the destruction of nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union, arms control and export controls.

THE CHALLENGES AHEAD:

• To meet future threats, the Clinton Administration is committed to the development and deployment of a new generation of more advanced, more capable area defense TMDs, including the Army Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system and Navy "Upper Tier." The first THAAD battery will be deployable in l998, giving the United States a rapidly deployable capability in a crisis,

• The Clinton Administration seeks to conclude an agreement to clarify under the ABM Treaty the demarcation between theater and strategic missile defenses.

Last Update: May 22