Partnership For Global Security :: Publications

								2/9/12

Home / Publications / Congress & Budget

www PGS

Printer Friendly Page

FY98 Congressional Hearings Archives

Senate
1998 Defense Authorization Act

On July 11, 1997, the Senate passed S. 936, the FY98 Defense AuthorizationAct. During the floor debates several amendments pertaining to U.S.-Russian nuclear security relations were introduced. One of the mostimportant successfully restored funds cut by the Senate Armed ServiceCommittee. S.936, as originally reported, reduced the President's requestfor Nunn-Lugar programs by $135 million: $60 million from CooperativeThreat Reduction; $25 million from Materials Protection, Control andAccounting; and $50 million from International Nuclear Safety.

The Committee report accompanying S. 936 explained that unobligated fundsfrom previous budget cycles demonstrated excess appropriations. Fundingshould therefore remain at FY97 levels. Programs slated for FY98, theCommittee felt, could be funded with the excess dollars of previous years.With regard to International Nuclear Safety, the Committee expressedsupport for its goals, but believed the program did not contribute tonational security and should not be funded from Defense accounts.

The majority of the Senate did not share the Committee's view. On July 9,an amendment restoring Nunn-Lugar funds sponsored by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), and Peter Dominici (R-NM) passedeasily on a voice vote. With the vote, the Senate authorized $382.2million for Cooperative Threat Reduction programs, roughly the amount ithas approved each year since 1991.

The Defense Authorization Bill also sets spending limits on defenseprograms for the Department of Energy. The Committee was generallysupportive of these efforts. A large increase was approved for the RussianReactor Core Conversion Program, which will refigure three nuclear powerreactors so they will no longer produce weapons-grade plutonium. $41million was granted, compared to $10 million in FY97.

To combat the threat of nuclear smuggling and terrorist use of weapons ofmass destruction, the Senate approved a $5 million increase over thePresident's request of $12.6 million. $3 million to enhance the Departmentof Energy's nuclear forensic analytical capability and $2 million fortraining exercises to coordinate responses by Federal, State, and localorganizations to respond to domestic terrorist use.

Export controls over "supercomputers" received much attention during thebudget negotiations. Hearings were held examining the loosening of exportcontrols on certain high-performance computers. Nonproliferation concernswere highlighted by reports that Russian and Chinese weapons laboratorieshad illegally acquired advanced U.S. computers. Many members believed theycould assist the design and development of new nuclear weapons.On June 19Senator Thad Cochran (R-MS) introduced an amendment requiring alicense from the Secretary of Commerce before computers with a compositetheoretical performance equal to or greater than 2,000 million theoreticaloperations per second (MTOPS) could be exported to "Tier 3" countries.Tier 3 states include Russia, China, Pakistan, India, Israel, Pakistan,and Saudi Arabia.

The amendment was presented as a way to close what supporters saw as adangerous loophole in the President's October 6, 1995 export controlpolicy. The current policy only requires an export license to a Tier 3state if the computer is capable of 2,000 MTOPS and going to a militaryend user or if the computer is capable of 7,000 MTOPS and is going to acivilian end user. Determination of who the end user is largely up to theexporting firm. Many felt that firms may be tempted to put profits aheadof national security and export to clients that should not be receivingthese computers.

Detractors argued that computers between 2,000 and 7,000 MTOPS are notreally "super" and will soon be widely available on the global market. Tounilaterally restrict sales risked loosing potential markets to foreigncompetitors. Moreover, the ability of these computers to advance a nuclearweapons program, they argued, is limited and did not constitute a threatto national security.

In opposition to the Cochran amendment, Senators Rod Grams (R-MN) andBarbara Boxer (D-CA) sponsored a second-degree amendment that wouldoverride the Cochran amendment. Grams-Boxer requires the General Accounting Office to conduct a study on potential risks relating tocomputer exports and instructs the Department of Commerce to publish alist of military end users to assist exporters in determining if they needto acquire a license. Grams-Boxer passed on July 10, 72-26. The Cochranamendment was subsequently adopted the same day by voice vote.

A final amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill related to U.S.-Russian nuclear relations, sponsored by Jeff Bingaman, requires thePresident to submit to Congress a report detailing how the Administrationexpects to fulfill the strategic arms control agreements made with Russiaat the March 1997 Helsinki Summit. It was one of several non-controversialamendments adopted in block by voice vote on July 1.