TAKING A STEP TOWARD PEACE AND JUSTICE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP86B00338R000200280022-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 11, 2008
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: October 17, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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E 4922 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - Extensions of Remarks - October 17, 1983
Q: Larry, you're giving conflicting signals
here. You have Feldstein giving one set of
signals and Regan giving another.
A: And what were the words out of
mouth? That economists can debate this till
the cows come home.
Q: They're your economists and they
should be speaking with one voice.
A: Reasonable men have differing opin-
ions and the president has asked for differ-
ing opinions.
Q: What is the administration position?
A: Bob (Timberg,, Baltimore Evening Sun),
how many times have you asked it? How
many times have you asked it?
Q: You're saying that you don't really
care?
A: Now did you hear me say that? Did you
write that down back there?
Q: What is the position?
A: I've stated it. Lower deficits through
lower federal spending.
Q: Does that mean lower interest rates?
A: It remains to be seen, Saul (Friedman,
Knight-Ridder), you'll have to-see.
Q` So there is no administration position
on linkage between deficits and interest
rates?
A: I don't know that there Is any agree-
ment among economists on this issue.
Q: There is no administration position on
the question either?
A: I don't know that it can be resolved.
Q: (Is) the White House saying ... that
the administration doesn't know whether
lower interest rates will result if we lower
deficits as the result of lowering federal
spending? That's the bottom line of what
you Just said.
A: You know, all the economic theories,
Saul, are subject to interpretation and,
really, you have to take a historical perspec-
tive.
Q: If I'm not mistaken, it's the administra-
tion position that those budget deficits do
threaten economic recovery, (isn't] it?
A: I don't know that. you ever heard the
president say it. You might have heard
some of his advisers say it.
Q: What's the policy here of having Feld-
stein going out and saying one thing and
Regan going out and saying another thing?
A: You can't even pronounce his (Feld-
stein's) name. When you get out of here you
go over to the Treasury Department and
then you go over to the EOB (Executive
Office Building) and then you come back
here ..
Q: Is it the policy that it's okay for these
guys to state different opinions?
A: The president wants strong-willed men.
You know what Harry Truman said about
the one-armed economists.
Q: One-handed.
A: They'd say on the one hand this and
the other hand that.
Q: You've said the president has no view
on the subject?
Q: Do deficits count, as Feldstein says, on
interest rates?
A: That's a matter economists can debate
till the cows come home ... The president's
view is that our policy objective is to bring
deficts down. We want reductions in federal
spending.
Q: Does he still think if you bring deficits
down you bring interest rates down?
A: I don't think he's stated a position on
it.
Q: Why should we bring deficits down if
we don't know what they da about interest
rates?
A: Bringing them down would put they gov-
ernment on an even keel and make it pay its
own way. Read Ronald-the gospel accord-
ing to Ronald Reagan.
Q: You don't know whether the president
believes that deficits Impinge on interest
rates? Can you find out?
A: I think the president could problabiy
give both sides of the argument if you like.
Q: Doesn't he have an opinion at all? He
doesn't know?
A: He's familiar with the arguments on
both sides, and I think, as I say, you can
argue those points, and economists will at
the drop of a hat, until the cows come
home.
Q: He did during the campaign.
A: What was his position?
Q: He said high deficits cause high inter-
est rates.
A: Well, interest rates have been cut in
half and the deficit has doubled.
Q: Well, was he wrong, Larry?
A: Well, that sounds like a UPI lead. It's
certainly not an AP lead. "The president
says the economists can debate. this till ...
Q: [In unison] ... the cows come home.
Q: I want to take a stab ...
A: Paul (Rodriquez, Bureau of National
Affairs, a group of newsletters) ... you're
well over your quota today.
Q: I'm not getting an answer ...
Q: (New questioner): Can I take one last
shot? If the president gets lots of advice and
he says he doesn't want yes men .. at a
certain point he. has to form an -.pinion.
Clearly this is an issue [on which] one
would think he would have formed an opin-
ion. All we're asking is 'Where does the
president come down?'
A:. He doesn't have to have an opinion on
this in order to go after reducing deficits
through reducing federal spending and tell-
ing Congress we want to cut this federal
spending.
Q: What is the purpose in cutting federal
spending?
A: Balance the budget, reduce the deficit.
Q: And the reason b?
A: Paul. how many times have I got to tell
you? Cool it.?
DISABILITY REFORM MEASURE
NEEDS IMMEDIATE ATTENTION
HON. MARIO BIAGGI
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE Or REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, October 17, 1983
? Mr. BIAGGI. Mr. Speaker, I have
joined with a number of my colleagues
as a member of the Select Committee
on Aging in examining the ongoing
problems associated with required re-
views of social security disability
beneficiaries. We have also been ac-
tively involved in soliciting the views,
opinions, and recommendations of
State and local officials associated
with this program on how best to
reform the existing system.
I believe that comprehensive legisla-
tive reform is not only necessitated,
but is essential if we are to prevent the
benefits of those disabled individuals
who truly need them. That legislative
reform is best outlined in the Social
Security Disability Benefits Reform
Act of 1983 makes major revisions in
the eligibility reviews. More impor-
tantly, it codifies the review process so
that beneficiaries will not be subjected
to the arbitrary and capricious whims
of administrators of this program.
The major provisions of H.R. 3755
include: Fkst, a requirement that
there be medical improvement before
benefits can be stopped; "second, re-
quire the Social Security Administra-
tion to adhere to appeals court deci-
sions in their regional administration
of the program; third, continuing pay-
ments of benefits until all appeals
have been exausted through the ad-
ministrative law judge level; fourth,
provision of a face-to-face meeting
with the original decisionmaker before
issuing a formal decision to terminate
benefits; and fifth, require that any
future program and policy changes be
printed as regulations subject to
public comment and review.
As a cosponsor of this measure I be-
lieve that it offers a rational and
humane way of protecting the rights
and benefits of our disabled popula-
tion. It will help us to avoid the pain-
ful spectre of hundreds of thousands
of eligible individuals being thrown off
the roles without recourse.
In my own State of New York, Gov-
ernor Cuomo led the Nation in stop-
ping all reviews of those on the dis-
ability rolls until a more uniform
method can be adopted. Since the an-
nouncement by the State's depart-
ment of social services last July that
the "legal and moral obligations of the
disabled were not being met." 11 other
States have followed suit and banned
further review of beneficiaries. This
national outcry was a result of 374,000
people being removed from the disabil-
ity rolls since March 1981 when, the
Social Security Administration an-
nounced a crackdown on the program
to implement a 1989 law which man-
dates reexssnination of recipients once
every 3 years unless they are perma-
nently disabled.
As a result of this hasty review, the
Select Committee on Aging has been
actively examining the national
impact of this review on elderly
beneficiaries. We believe that H.R.
3755 is the proper approach in ad-
dressing the dual concerns of protect-
ing benefits which simplifying the ad-
ministration of a program which pays
$18 billion a year to 3.9 million individ-
uals. I will work closely with my col-
leagues to provide for timely consider-
ation of this very important legislation
so that the rights of the disabled to
these benefits are protected from ad-
ministrative discretion and budget-cut-
ting whims of those who would rather
see denials instead of protections these
benefits..
HON. ROBERT W. KASTENMEIER
OF WISCONSIN
IN THE HOUSE Or REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, October 17, 1983
? Mr. KASTENMEIER. Mr. Speaker,
I strongly recommend that my col-
leagues read the October 16, 1983,
Washington Post article by Fred
Kaplan on the arms race in space.
The United States and the Soviet
Union have a chance to stop the very
is
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October 17, 1983 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - Extensions of Remarks E 4923
dangerous and most expensive devel- ment with the Russians. Yet after our forth- cause it lessens the likelihood of an arms-
opment of space-based weapons sys- coming ASAT tests, this may be impossible. control treaty. If the United States goes
tems. Soviet President Andropov has Air Force omcials have testined that it will ahead and tests its new ASAT system, the
proposed that the United States and take only six hours to install an MHV ASAT Soviets undoubtedly will break the morato-
the Soviet Union agree to a ban on system on an F-15 fighter anywhere in the rium and resume their own testing-and
space weapons. Fred Kaplan, author world, at a cost of only $632,000 per plane. probably develop a better weapon than the
and defense Corespondent for the says Stares' "There's no way the Russians one they have now. This will provoke us to
could have confidence that every F-15 isn't upgrade our system ... And the race is on.
Boston Globe, has presented a most carrying an ASAT. What are going to do? From here, any number of scenarios can
convincing case for negotiating a ban Paint the F-15 different colors if it has an. be imagined: the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. (or
on antisatellite weapons now. ASAT mission?" both) develops an ASAT that can (potential-
The Reagan administration, if it Ironically, this moment when we are ly) strike -satellites at high altitudes as well
wants to convince the American about to test a new ASAT system is both as low altitudes, thus endangering the all-
people and the world that is it serious the last and probably one of the best oppor- important early-warning satellites. The
about arms control, has the chance to tunities for getting ASAT arms-control ne- other side. then develops a system-perhaps
show that dt is by ahas th co ce to gotiations under way. To see why require4 a involving lasers-that can attack this new
brief ate with the Soviets to ban weapons in The United States was history. first to develop space-based ased battle e system. station that develops a
space. an ASAT system. From 1963-67, the U.S. the satellites. Then r can defend
[From the Washington Post, Oct. 16, Army tested some of its Nike-Zeus ABMs as systems that at t can attack the other side builds
1983] satellite killers. From 1964-68, the U.S. Air the defenders. And
WEAREAEOIIT TO LAUNCH A COSTLY AND so it goes.....
CRAZY ARMS RACE IN SPACE Force fired Thor missiles at deactivated sat- Indeed, this scenario is precisely what
(By Fred Kaplan) ellites in outer space in what was called the some people have in mind. Although the
"Squanto Terror" tests (or, in a lower key, U.S. Miniature Homing Vehicle program
Sometime very soon, (the date is classi- "Program 437"). This program was kept dates back to 1978, its most ardent support-
fled), the United States will test a weapon alive until 1975.
system that promises to burst through a Not until 1968-well after the Air Force whole era view it as panoply an of space ceing wedge -into
some the
new threshold in the arms race-a race for had delcs.ed Program 437 weapons-some on
competition will be almost unimaginably ex- program. The Soviet system is substantially and glimmers in the fertile imaginations of
pensive; It will be almost impossible to turn more unwieldy than either the U.S. pro- technocratic enthusiasts-that fall under
back once it has commenced, and even if the grams of the 1960s or, our forthcoming MHV the rubric of "Star Wars."
weapons involved work the way they are plan. Their scheme was to launch a "killer Star Wars advocates tasted their first dose
supposed to, the nation will be less secure in satellite" in an orbit that crosses an enemy of legitimacy last March, when President
the end. satellite,. and then to blow up the killer, de- Reagan told a the u ure." He held out oe nationwide TV audience
The new weapon seems deceptively harm- stroying the enemy spacecraft with shrap- his "vision
that f the future."
network of n blli out the
less at first glance: a 12-by-13 inch cylinder, nel. "hope" tha network e antiballistic mis-
less with telescopes and infrared sensors, Over the next 14 years, the Soviets con- sites (ABMs), space lasers and battle sta-
attached to a two-stage rocket small enough ducted 20 tests. They have used two differ- tions-based on decades of research-will
to fit under an F-15 jet fighter. The ent types of guidance systems. One directs intercept and destroy strategic ballistic
drama-and potential danger-lies in what the killer-satellite by shining a radar beam missiles before they reach our own soil or
this small package is designed to do. It's on the target. The other is more passive, that of our allies."
called a Miniature Homing Vehicle (MHV), with infrared systems which seek out the For years, a fringe element-led by Sen.
and the Idea is to fly the F-15 almost verti- target by the heat that it generates in outer Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.) in Congress,
cally up to the edge of the atmosphere, then space. Edward Teller and Gen. Daniel Graham
fire the MHV into outer space, where it will According to John Pike of the Federation (Ret.) in the military-scientific community,
home in on-and kill-an enemy satellite. of American Scientists, the Russians tested and several others in various bureaucracies
If the first few tests of the MHV system the radar-seeker version 14 times, most re- and think tanks on the east and west
succeed, we may find ourselves propelled, cently in 1981, of which 10 were successes. coasts-have been keen on moving the arms
almost inexorably, toward a new era of mili- However, more recently, they tested the competition into space. A very small group
tary conflict, Maj. Gen. John H. Storrie, di- passive infrared-seeker version six times- within the Air Force, recently organized
rector of space for Air Force plans and oiler- and all six were duds. into a Space Command, believes that space
ations, told a House committee last March: Even the 10 successes had their limits- can be-as Thomas Kanas calls it in his book
"Space is a place; it is not a mission. We are tions. They were all conducted at low alt- that chronicles this community-"The New
going to continue to do the things in space tudes, whereas most U.S. satellites-includ- High Ground" from which the United
that we do in the atmosphere and on the ing all early-warning, satellites-are sta- States can reign supreme in all other arenas
ground and on the seas"-that is, to prepare tioned at very high altitudes. There were of warfare.
to fight and win wars. A study signed last also conducted within very narrow angles or Reagan's speech-which was heavily influ-
year by the Air Force chief of staff, titled inclinations (from 60 to 66 degrees), making enced by talks with Teller-gave this group
"Air Force 2000," calls for "space superior- it difficult to approach even the low-altitude the legitimacy that it has long sought.
ity," which requires "the capability to de- American satellites. Stephen Meyer of MIT Almost at once, "Beltway bandits" and
stroy hostile space systems." concludes, "They've really never had a test other consulting firms put in contract bids
Already, both sides-especially the United of what is would be like going against a real to study "the military utility of space."
States-depend on space for a wide variety U.S. target." More important, it became a high-priority
of military missions. Most of what we know From 1977-81, the Soviets stopped testing issue inside the national-security burea-
about the Soviet military, especially about ASATs. Over part of that period, the U.S. cracy.
its nuclear weapons, comes from satellites. A and the U.S.S.R. held three series of talks Over the summer, three major outside
great deal of military communications com- on negotiating an ASAT arms-control agree- studies were commissioned on the politics
mand-control networks, navigational aids ment. Then came the Soviet invasion of Af- and technology of Star Wars. At this
and other support systems also are chan- ghanistan, the death of SALT II-and the moment, an interagency group consisting of
neled through satellites. Moreover, Maj. Gen. ASAT talks faded away. officials from the State Department, the
Bernard Randolph, director of the Air Force Last August, Soviet leader Yuri Andropov Pentagon, the National Security Council
space systems, has testified that a "major" announced a moratorium on all ASAT test- and the Arms Control and Disarmament
objective of U.S. space plans is "to expand" ing, and Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko Agency is drawing up evaluations of those
our military capabilities in space. Submitted an ASAT arms-control proposal studies to present to the president sometime
The more we rely on military platforms in to the United Nations, with terms that seem within the next month.
space, the more incentive the Soviets will to indicate seriousness. One obvious reason Officials involved in the studies and the
have to develop their own advanced anti- for this seriousness is a realization that the interagency meetings say that nobody now
satellite (ASAT) weapons, and thus an in- United States is about to come out with a knows how to go about even beginning to
creasingly crucial element of our military new ASAT system that will probably be build a Star Wars system. Says one Penta-
command network will become increasingly much more successful than the Soviet gon official, "At this point we have no con-
vulnerable. model. sensus on what it all means.... I don't
"Right now," according to Paul Stares of Indeed, administration officials have think we have the kind of answers that we
the Brookings Institution, "If we lose our treated the idea of negotiations dismissively could base any sort of policy on."
space systems, we'd be hurt but not crippled. precisely because Andropov has proposed In any case, officials are discovering tech-
If we continue to increase our dependence them. The reasoning: his fear of our ASAT nical problems that may be insurmountable.
on space systems, then we're just digging a only confirms that it can give us an edge in A ground-based laser wouldn't work
hole for ourselves." the arms race. through clouds. Even Maj. Gen. Bernard
There's one way out of this hole-and that But this is shortsighted, and not just be- Randolph, director of Air Force space sys-
is to negotiate an ASAT arms-control agree- tems, told a House committee last spring
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - Extensions of Remarks October 17, 1983
that a space-based laser would require 10
megawatts of power (some say much more)
and would weigh 150,000 pounds-well
beyond the transport capacity of the Space
Shuttle. To provide even "a thin AB, capa-
bility," we would need 50-100 of these sys-
tems. Furthermore, the systems must have
perfect accuracy; he likened the mission to
pointing a beam "from the Washington
Monument to a baseball on the top of the
Empire State Building and hold[ing] it
there while both of you are moving."
Then there's the cost. Air Force studies
have put it at $500 billion. An analyst on
one of the government-sponsored study-
groups puts it as high as $1.2 trillion.
And that probably would not be the end
of it. Officials and analysts point out that
the Russians could "spoof" any space-based
ABM system much more cheaply than it
would take us to build one. Just a few tech-
niques: cover the surface of a missile with a
mirror that reflects the laser beam; jam the
communications between the space system
and the ground-control station; shoot it
down with a laser system yourself. As one
skeptical official puts it, "If it can shoot
down a ballistic missile, why can't it shoot
down its twin brother?"
Still, the interagency group will not advise
Reagan to abandon the Star Wars idea as a
piece of budget-busting, technically hope-
less pie-in-the-sky. "This is the president's
program," says one skeptical official. "We
can't tell the president that he's got a nutty
idea." Instead, it will probably recommend
that the military send the next several
years doing research on whether these prob-
lems can be overcome. Even this will cost
quite a bit of money.
For example, Robert S. Cooper, Director
of the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), testified last spring that
the "Space Laser Program Plan," which will
merely "bring us to a point where we can
make reliable planning estimates of weapon
development costs and schedules," will cost
$900 million. Other basic research of this
sort could cost as much as $4 billion a year-
maybe more-for several years; and even
then, nobody will know very much more
than before.
All of which leads some analysts to
wonder whether it is sensible to start tread-
ing down this seemingly endless road to
begin with. Though the. ASAT program and
the Star Wars scheme have different ori-
gins, the road to the latter can begin with
the former. In fact, the kind of technology
needed for advanced ASAT systems-track-
ing mechanisms, sensors, beams and so
forth-is quite similar to the technology
needed for shooting down ballistic missiles.
And the logic of the ASAT/counter-ASAT
arms race provides a grand opportunity for
the Star War brigade to bring in their pro-
grams through various side or rear en-
trances if they end up getting locked out of
the front door.
The Reagan administration, however, is
drawing no connection between ASAT and
Star Wars. There is an interagency group
dealing with Star Wars and another dealing
with ASAT-but they are composed a differ-
ent people and they never meet. Similarly,
the group concerned with ASAT is contem-
plating various arms-control ideas-but, ac-
cording to officials, no one has seriously
considered delaying the ASAT test until
after these ideas have been fully explored.
In short, an historic opportunity to halt a
whole new age in the arms race is being ne-
glected, even ignored-not only by the ad-
ministration, but by Congress as well. (It is
worth noting that the nuclear freeze move-
ments also have paid scant attention to the
imminent prospect of an arms race in
space.)
It wouldn't be the first time. In 1970, to
cite just the most recent parallel, the
United States deployed the Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile. It incorpo-
rated new technology called MIRVs (multi-
ple independently targetable reentry vehi-
cles), which allowed one missile to carry sev-
eral warheads, each of which could be
guided to separate targets.
Before MIRVs, a first strike destroying
the other side's land-based missiles was im-
possible; one missile could hit only one
enemy missile; if one aide built extra mis-
siles, the other side could counter by build-
ing more too. However, with MIRVs, a
single missile could (theoretically) destroy
several enemy missiles. If the U.S. and the
U.S.S.R acquired MIRVs, both sides would
be at once capable of destroying the other's
land-based missiles and vulnerable to such
an attack themselves.
Some U.S. officials favored proposing a
ban on MIRVs during the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks, but this was rejected be-
cause others felt MIRVs gave us a strategic
edge over the Russians. Four years later,
the Russians deployed their own MIRVs,
and now the same people who opposed a
MIRV ban a decade ago decry the Soviet
MIRVs which they clajm have made our
own Minuteman missiles vulnerable.
The most interesting strategic arms-con-
trol proposal of recent years calls for get-
ting rid of MIRVs. But it's probably too
late.
Henry Kissinger told reporters in 1974, "I
would say in retrospect that I wish I had
thought through the implications of a
MIRVed world more thoughtfully in 1969
and 1970 than I did." But Kissinger's former
NSC aides say that MIRVs were studied
thoroughly, that Kissinger knew exactly
what their implications were from the be-
ginning, but went ahead with them
anyway-to gain a strategic edge.
It's the same with the upcoming ASAT
test and the growing political pressure for
at least elements of the Star Wars plan. As
in the case of MIRVs, the administration is
failing-even refusing-to think through
the implications before the world changes
in ways it may later regret.*
HON. ROMANO L. MAZZOLI
OF KENTUCKY
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, October 6, 1983
? Mr. MAZZOLI. Mr. Speaker, I
would like to pay tribute to Lech
Walsea, the recipient of the Nobel
Peace Prize for 1983.
Mr. Walsea has demonstrated untir-
ing commitment and courage in de-
fending the human rights and free-
doms of his fellow workers and his
fellow Poles.
His peaceful, nonviolent actions are
a standard and an example for the
world. The work of Lech Walsea gives
hope to oppressed peoples throughout
the world.?
AMERICA'S TECHNOLOGY
HIGHWAY
HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY
OF MASSACHUSETTS
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, October 17, 1983
? Mr. MARKEY. Mr. Speaker, in
recent months, the term high-tech has
enlisted many followers as the key
words for the economic renewal of our
country. The term high-tech is noth-
ing new to the people of Massachu-
setts and the residents of Route 128,
America's technology highway. I am
proud to represent the firms along
Route 128 and am pleased to share in
their success.
One of the pioneers along Route 128
was RCA Automated Systems, who es-
tablished a research, manufacturing,
and engineering site 25 years ago in
Burlington, Mass. During these 25
years, RCA Automated Systems has
made great contributions to the Com-
monwealth and our Nation as a leader
and innovator among high-technology
manufacturers. RCA Automated Sys-
tems has proved year after year that
dedication to research and technology
can propel our Nation into the techno-
logical revolution. RCA Automated
Systems has been a leader in this revo-
lution and I am proud to share with
my colleagues their impressive accom-
plishments and congratulate RCA
Automated Systems on their 25th an-
niversary.
I commend to my colleagues the fol-
lowing resolution:
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES RESOLUTION
Whereas. It has been 25 years since RCA
Burlington was established as a major re-
search, engineering and manufacturing site
in Massachusetts; and
Whereas, These events were a catalyst in
the Technological Revolution that has ad-
vanced-our State and Nation; and
Whereas. Cooperation and recognition be-
tween the Government and industry have
triumphed establishing State Highway,
Route 128, as 'America's Technology High-
way'; and
Whereas, RCA Burlington's twenty-five
years of electronic engineering success on
'America's Technology Highway' typifies
Massachusetts' contribution to the security
and prosperity of this Nation; now, there-
fore, be it
Resolved, by Mr. Edward J. Markey,
United States Representative from the Sev-
enth District in the State of Massachusetts:
That the day of October 21, 1983 be desig-
nated RCA Burlington Day throughout this
State; and be it further
Resolved, That a duly authenticated copy
of this resolution, signed by Representative
and attested by the Clerk, be transmitted to
Andrew T. Hospodor, Division Vice-Presi-
dent and General Manager, RCA Automat-
ed systems, Burlington, Massachusetts.?
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SFNATF
me ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Without objection, the motion is
agreed to.
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, are
we in morning business?
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr.
SPECTER). Yes.
Sometime very soon, the United States
will test a weapon system that promises to
burst through a new threshold in the arms
race-a race for military supremacy in outer
space. This competition will be almost un-
imaginably expensive; it will be almost im-
possible to turn back once it has com-
menced, and even if the weapons involved
work the way they are supposed to, the
nation will be less secure in the end.
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IN SPACE Mr. President, consider that last sen-
tence: the work the
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, in way theyeare supposed toswork, the
the Sunday, October 16, Washington Nation will be less secure in the end.
Post, Fred Kaplan, defense correspon- Think of that for a minute. What is
dent for the Boston Globe, has written the purpose of the billions we are
an article that every Member of the pouring into our defense effort? We
Congress should read. This Govern- are told over and over again the pur-
ment seems poised on the brink of in- pose is to keep the peace, prevent war,
stituting a nuclear arms race in space provide us with greater security. And
that would destroy any realistic hope yet we are told by a highly expert ob-
that we could achieve effective arms server that even if the very expensive
control, stop the arms race, and end project that we are about to launch
the nightmare of nuclear ware Such a works and works perfectly, we will be
space race would be catastrophic be- less secure. That is right, less secure,
cause it would enable both the United And Mr. Kaplan is right.
States and Soviet Union to eventually We will be less secure because our
develop the capability to knock out testing will kick off an arms race
the other's intelligence and warning which will surely lead to the death of
satellites. our absolutely vital verification tools-
Why would this make arms control our satellites. Now you may say: "Wait
impossible? Because the prime means a minute PRO%MIRE. We're going to
of verification for both superpowers to win this race. We're ahead of the
keep any kind of agreement is the sat- Soviet Union in.the accuracy and reli-
ellite. Satellites are literally our very ability of our system. We have the re-
eyes. Knock out the satellites and we sources they don't have. We have su-
must stagger and stumble around like perior scientists. Why not use our ad-
a blind man surrounded by armed vantage to beat the Soviets? Why not
thugs, not knowing where the first forget about negotiating and fight it
shot is coming from and wholly de- out on a field where they lose and we
fenseless. Verification would disap- win?"
pear, and with it any arms control Here is Kaplan's, answer:
agreement would collapse. Both sides Ad
i
i
m
n
stration officials have treated the
would not only have no alternative idea of negotiations dismissively precisely
except to go all Out to win the arms because Andropov has proposed them. The
race, but, worse, both sides would have reasoning: his fear of our ASAT only con-
the strongest kind of motive to strike firms that it can give us an edge in the arms
at once. Without the verification of race,
satellites we would have no idea what __ But this is shortsighted, and not just be.
October 17, 1983
cost at $500 billion-that is billion.
And an analyst on one of the Govern-
ment sponsored study groups esti-
mates $1.2 trillion. Yes, I said trillion.
How utterly ridiculous, that we
should contemplate spending more
than a trillion dollars to do what? As
Kaplan puts it "to make this Nation
less secure." 11
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the article to which I re-
ferred by Fred Kaplan in Sunday's
Washington Post be printed in the
RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
WE'RE ABOUT TO LAUNCH A COSTLY AND
CRAZY ARMS RACE IN SPACE
(By Fred Kaplan)
Sometime very soon (the date is classi-
fied), the United States will test a weapon
system that promises to burst through a
new threshold in the arms race-a race for
military supremacy in outer space. This
competition will be almost unimaginably ex-
pensive; it will be almost impossible to turn
back once it his commenced, and even if the
weapons involved work the way they are
supposed to, the nation will be less secure in
the end.
The new weapon seems de tively harm-
less at first glance: a 12-by-13 inch cylinder,
loaded with telescopes and infrared sensors,
attached to a two-stage rocket small enough
to fit under an F-15 Jet fighter. The
drama-and potential danger-lies in what
this small package is designed to do. It's
called a Minature Homing Vehicle (MHV),
and the idea is to fly the F-15 almost verti-
cally up to the edge of the atmosphere, then
fire the MHV into outer space, where it will
home in on-and kill-an enemy satellite.
If the first few tests of the MHV system
succeed, we may find ourselves propelled,
almost inexorably, toward a new era of mili-
tary conflict. Maj. Gen. John H. Storrie, di-
rector of space for Air Force plans and oper-
ations, told a House committee- last March:
"Space is a place; it is not a mission. We are
going to continue to do the things in space
d ates
????? ~?~ aucas -
goes ground and on the seas"-that is, to prepare
what progress we were making in S
ahead and tests its new oviets undoubtedly will br ak the em. the mOMtO- to fight and win wars. A study signed last Air
building and deploying our nuclear ar- rium and resume their own testing-and "Air year F by ce 00 call for "S chief
s " of stafu, erior-
titled
senal. What has been the whole basis probably develop a better weapon than the which requires "the spoioe
for our nuclear build up? Answer: De'- one they have now. This will provoke us to stroy hostile spasystems," to d-
terrence. But with satellites gone de- upgrade our system. And the race Is on.
terrence would vanish. What is even Already both ly the ie
y
worse the situation would become eMr. President, I have not given the States-depend o on n s spaacece for for a a wide variety
t
more explosive because our become even warning cost of this competition much atten- of military missions. Most of what we know military,
lly tion because the very destruction of about the weapo s, comes ciatel about
espe
systems would be gone. Satellites can , civilization must of course be the great deal weapons, comes from uns saons, co. A
tell us when enemy missiles are on the prime basis for opposing this Govern- mans ctrol military igational aids
way. They give us the vital early warn- ment undertaking such, a tragic initia- and other support systems also are chan-
the Without that satellite wnrni dg'a l tive. Many Americans cannot seem to neled through satellites. Moreover, Maj.
the elabo at have burlll ed deep understand the life and death argu- Gen. Bernard Randolph, director of the Air
in the ment but maybe they can understand Force space systems, has testified that a
Colorado mountains to inform the dollar and cents cost. And in this case "major" objective of U.S. space plans is "to
President and permit our land based
deterrent to strike b
k
ac
would be lost. to Kaplan, Defense advanced research The more we een a mie th
Our
first notice would be the mush- jects estimates that space, the more incentive the Soviets will
room cloud over every city or missile tooa pa t where we canumake reliable elliteto(ASAT)pweapons, and thus antiin-
site or both, unless, of course, we were planning estimates of weapons devel- creasingly crucial element of our military
in the city, when we would vaporize opment costs and schedules will cost command network will become increasingly
into nothingness, or if we were a few $900 million. Other research necessary vulnerable.
miles away from the target center we for this project would cost $4 billion a "Right now," according to Paul Stares of
would suffer intense heat, a rapid cre- year or more for several years. This is the Brookings Institution, "if we lose our
mation and turn to ashes, just pled. If wee systems, we'd Increase oe hurt but not end-
Here's what Kaplan reports in Sun- Now tiny beginning.
da get ready for the really big ene on space systems, then we're our Just dig-
day's Post: news-Air Force studies have
put the Bing a hole for ourselves."
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October 17, 1983 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE
There's one way out of this hole-and
that is to negotiate an ASAT arms-control
agreement with the Russians. Yet after our
forthcoming ASAT tests, this may be impos-
sible. Air Force officials have testified that
it will take only six hours to install an MHV
ASAT system on an F-15 fighter anywhere
in the world, at a cost of only $632,000 per
plane. Says Stares, "There's no way the
Russians could have confidence that every
P-15 isn't carrying an ASAT. What are we
going to do? Paint the F-15 different colors
if it has an ASAT mission?"
The United States was the first to develop
an ASAT system. From 1963-67, the U.S.
Army tested some of its Nike-Zeus ABMs as
satellite killers. From 1964-68, the U.S. Air
Force fired Thor missiles at deactivated sat-
ellites in outer space in what was called the
"Squanto Terror" tests (or, in a lower key,
"Program 437"). This progc'asn was kept
alive until 1975.
Not until 1968-well after the Air force
had declared Program 437 "operational"-
did the Soviets start up their own ASAT
program. The Soviet system is substantially
more unwieldy than either the U.S. pro-
grams of the 1960s or our forthcoming MHV
plan. Their scheme was to launch a "killer
satellite" in an orbit that crosses an enemy
satellite, and then to blow up the killer, de-
stroying the enemy spacecraft with shrap-
nel.
Over the next 14 years, the Soviets con-
ducted 20 tests. They have used two differ-
ent types of guidance systems. One directs
the killer-satellite by shining a radar beam
on the target. The other is more passive,
with infrared systems which seek out the
target by the heat that it generates in outer
space.
According to John Pike of the Federation
of American Scientists, the Russians tested
the radar-seeker version 14 times, most re-
cently In 1981, of which 10 were successes.
However, more recently, they tested the
passive Infrared-seeker version six times-
and all six were duds.
Even the 10 successes had their limita-
tions. They were all conducted at low alti-
tudes, whereas most U.S. satellites-includ-
ing all early-warning satellites-are sta-
tioned at very high altitudes. They were
also conducted within very narrow angles or
inclinations (from 60 to 66 degrees), making
it difficult to approach even the low-altitude
American satellites. Stephen Meyer of MIT
concludes, "They've really never had a test
of what it would be like going against a real
U.S. target."
From 1977-81, the Soviets stopped testing
ASATs. Over part of that period, the U.S.
and the U.S.S.R. held three series of talks
on negotiating an ASAT arms-control agree-
ment. Then came the Soviet invasion of Af-
ghanistan, the death of SALT II-and the
ASAT talks faded away.
Last August, Soviet leader :Yuri Andropov
announced a moratorium on all ASAT test-
ing, and Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko
submitted an ASAT arms-control proposal
to the United Nations, with terms that seem
to indicate seriousness. One obvious reason
for this seriousness is a realization that the
United States Is about to come out with a
new ASAT system that will probably be
much more successful than the Soviet
model.
Indeed, administration officials have
treated the idea of negotiations dismissively
precisely because Andropov has proposed
them. The reasoning: his fear of our ASAT
only confirms that it can give us an edge in
the arms race.
But this is shortsighted, and not just be-
cause it lessens the likelihood of an arms-
control treaty. If the United States goes
ahead and tests its new ASAT system, the
Soviets undoubtedly will break the morato-
rium and resume their own testing-and
probably develop a better weapon than the
one they have now. This will provoke us to
upgrade our system.... And the race is on.
From here, any number of scenarios can
be imagined: the U.S. or the U.S.S.R. (or
both) develops an ASAT that can (potential-
ly) strike satellites at high altitudes as well
as low altitudes, thus endangering the all-
important early-warning satellites. The
other side then develops a system-perhaps
involving lasers-that can attack this new
ASAT system. Or perhaps he develops a
space-based battle station that can defend
the satellites. Then the other side builds
systems that can attack the defenders. And
so it goes.
Indeed, this scenario is precisely what
some people have in mind. Although the
U.S. Miniature Homing Vehicle program
dates back to 1978, its most ardent support-
ers view it as an entering wedge into the
whole panoply of space weapons-some on
the drawing boards, some as yet only sparks
and glimmers in the fertile imaginations of
technocratic enthusiasts-than fall under
the rubric of "Star Wars."
Star Wars advocates tasted their first dose
of legitimacy last March, when President
Reagan told a nationwide TV audience of
his "vision of the future." He held out the
"hope" that a network of antiballistic mis-
siles (ABMs), space laser and battle sta-
tions-based on decades of research-will
"intercept and destroy stategic ballistic mis-
siles before they reach our own soil or that
of our allies."
For years, a fringe element-led by Sen.
Malcolm Wallop (R-Wyo.) in Congress,
Edward Teller and Gen. Daniel Graham
(Ret.) in the military-scientific community,
and several others in various bureaucracies
and think tanks. -on the east and west
coasts-have been keen on moving the arms
competition into space. A very small group
within the Air Force, recently organized
into a Space Command believes that space
can be-as Thomas Karas calls it in his book
that chronicles this community-"The New
High Ground" from which the United
States can reign supreme in all other arenas
of warfare.,
Reagan's speech-which was heavily influ-
enced by talks with Teller-gave this group
the legitimacy that it has long sought.
Almost at once, "Beltway bandits" and
other consulting firms put in contract bids
to study "the military utility of space."
More important, it became a high-priority
issue Inside the national-security bureaucra-
cy. -
Over the summer, three major outside
studies were commissioned on the politics
and technology of Star Wars. At this
moment, an interagency group consisting of
officials from the State Department, the
Pentagon, the National Security. Council
and the Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency is drawing up evaluations of those
studies to present to the president sometime
within the next month.
Officials involved in the studies and the
Interagency meetings say that nobody now
knows how to go about even beginning to
build a Star Wars system. Says one Penta-
gon official, "At this point we have no con-
sensus on what it all means. . . . I don't
think we have the kind of answers that we
could base any sort of policy on."
In any case, officials are discovering tech-
nical problems that may be insurmountable.
A ground-based laser wouldn't work
through clouds. Even Maj. Gen. Bernhard
Randolph, director of Air Force space sys-
tems, told a House committee last spring
that a space-based laser would require 10
megawatts of power (some say much more)
S 13961
and would weigh 150,000 pounds-well
beyond the transport capacity of the Space
Shuttle. To provide even "a thin ABM capa-
bility," we would need 50-100 of these sys-
tems. Furthermore, the systems must have
perfect accuracy; he likened the mission to
pointing a beam "from the Washington
Monument to a baseball on the top of the
Empire State Building and hold[ing] it
there while both of you are moving."
Then there's the cost. Air Force studies
have put it at $500 billion. An analyst on
one of the government-sponsored study-
groups puts it as high as $1.2 trillion.
And that probably would not be the end
of it. Officials and analysts point out that
the Russians could "spoof" any space-based
ABM system much more cheaply than it
would take us to build one. Just a few tech-
niques: cover the surface of a missile with a
mirror that reflects the laser beam; jam the
communications between the space system
and the ground-control station; shoot it
down with a laser system yourself. As one
skeptical official puts it, "If it can shoot
down a ballistic missile, why can't it shoot
down its twin brother?"
Still, the interagency group. will not advise
Reagan to abandon the Star Wars idea as a
piece of budget-busting, technically hope-
less pie-in-the-sky. "This is the president's
program," says one skeptical official. "We
can't tell the president that he's got a nutty
idea." Instead, it will probably recommend
that the military spend the next several
years doing research on whether these prob-
lems can be overcome. Even this will cost
quite a bit of money.
For example, Robert S. Cooper, Director
of the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency (DARPA), testified last spring that
the "Space Laser Program Plan," which will
merely "bring us to a point where we can
make reliable planning estimates of weapon
development costs and schedules," will cost
$900 million. Other basic research of this
sort could cost as much as $4 billion a year-
maybe more-for several years; and even
then, nobody will know very much more
than before.
All of which leads some analysts to
wonder whether it is sensible to start tread-
ing down this seemingly endless road to
begin with. Though the ASAT program and
the Star Wars scheme have different ori-
gins, the road to the latter can begin with
the former. In fact, the kind of technology
needed for advanced ASAT systems-track-
ing mechanisms' sensors. beams and so
forth-is quite similar to the technology
heeded for shooting down ballistic missiles.
And the logic of the ASAT/counter-ASAT
arms race provides a grand opportunity for
the Star War brigade to bring in their pro-
grams through various side or rear en-
trances if they end up getting locked out of,
the front door.
The Reagan administration, however, is
drawing no connections between ASAT and
Star Wars. There is an interagency group
dealing with Star-Wars and another dealing
with ASAT-but they are composed of dif-
ferent people and they never meet. Similar-
ly, the group concerned with ASAT is con-
templating various arms-control ideas-but,
according to officials, no one has seriously
considered delaying the ASAT test until
after these ideas have been fully explored.
In short, an historic opportunity to halt a
whole new age in the arms race Is being ne-
glected, even ignored-not only by the ad-
ministration, but by congress as well. (It is _
worth noting that the nuclear'treeze move-
ments also have paid scant attention to the
imminent prospect of an arms race in
space.)
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S 13962
It wouldn't be the first time. In 1970, to
cite just the most recent parallel, the
United States deployed the Minuteman III
intercontinental ballistic missile. It incorpo-
rated new technology called MIRVs (multi-
ple independently targetable reentry vehi-
cles), which allowed one missile to carry sev-
eral warheads, each of which could be
guided to separate targets.
Sets,re MIRVs, a first strike destroying
the other side's land-based missiles was im-
possible; one missile could hit only one
enemy missile; it one side built extra mis-
sik-s, the other side could counter by build-
ing more too. However, with MIRVs, a
single missile could (theoretically) destroy
sevt ral em-my missiles, If the U.S. and the
U.S,S.R. acquired MIRVs, both sides would
be at once capable of destroying the other's
land-based missiles and vulnerable to such
an atisck themselves.
Some U.S. officials favored proposing a
ban on MIRVs during the Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks, but this was rejected be-
cause others felt MIRVs gave us a strategic
edge over the Russians. Four years later,
the Russians deployed their own MIRVs,
and now the same people who opposed a
MIRV ban a decade ago decry the Soviet
MIRVs which they claim have made our
own Minuteman missiles vulnerable.
The most interesting strategic arms-con-
trol proposal of recent years calls for get-
ting rid of MIRVs. But its probably too
late.
Henry Kissinger told reporters in 1974, ."I
would say in retrospect that I wish I had
thought through the implications of a
MIRVed world more thoughtfully in 1969
and 1970 than I did." Kissinger's former
NSC aides say that MIRVs were studied
thoroughly, that Kissinger knew exactly
what their implications were from the be-
ginning. but went ahead with them
anyway-to gain a strategic edge.
It's the same with the upcoming ASAT
test and the growing political pressure for
at least elements of the Star Wars plan. As
in the case of MIRVs, the administration is
failing-even refusing-to think through
the implications before the world changes
in ways it may later regret.
A
19 AND JUSTICE
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President, this
month Time magazine released its
60th anniversary issue, which chron-
icles our world's recent history from
1923 to the present. Reviewing this
issue, I was both fascinated at how
h made the progress. These trage-
di of the are continuing in our
pr nt, as we have seen in Kho-
m is pers tion of the Bahais in
Ir . Thoug we have the means of
de rrence, th gh we have the ability
to ep forward, e stand in place and
all the destr tion of entire cul-
34 ears it has awaitedftatification by
th United States, witl Il the influ-
e and power that rings. The
tr ty needs the strengt f our sup-
e n before that. But since we nnot
g back in time and erase what ,al-
r y been permanently etched % 'is-
NOTE
the RECORD of October 6(1983, at
S13763, third columq' the re-
e the remarks of Mr2toHEN. The
RATEGIC A WAS REDUCTION
TALKS
r. COHE*. Mr. President, 8
troduced ae'resolution calling for a
mutual, gt$ranteed build down of the
nuclear tbrces of the United States
and thb viet Union. Our aim was to
forge lFbipartisan consensus behind an
appr ach which combined weapons
rnization and arms reductions in
mo
a anner which would enhance stabil-
rified at how much it has stayed the t,(y. I made clear that the concept was
same. , `riot immutable and that I welcomed
Governments have changed hands;
man has explored new worlds, comput-
ers have revolutionized the way we
work, play, and think. We have sur-
vived two world wars, the Depression,
the assassination of one President and
the resignation of another. We have
been proud in our moments of success,
and courageous in our times of hard-
ship.
Yet, while our people enjoy a free
and democratic spciety, others remain
oppressed. Wh" - we enjoy a safe and
secure Natio , other cultures have
faced extin on.
The p ' of Time were covered
with th mind-boggling facts of geno-
cidal acts in Eastern Europe during
the Holocaust, in Cambodia during Pol
comment and criticism to assist us in
refining it.
The response was gratifying. Forty-
three of our colleagues in the Senate
cosponsored the resolution, and a
number made suggestions which
helped in developing the build down
concept. Congressmen ELLIOTT LEVi-
TAS, JOHN MCCAIN, and JOHN PORTER,
sponsored a build down measure in the
House of Representatives which, in
the course of a few days, received sig-
nificant support in that body.
As the debate over the MX missile
system heightened, the build down
became part of a broader approach to
weapons modernization and arms con-
trol. In the House of Representatives,
Members such as Congressmen ALBERT
October 17, 1983
, an > otiivl Dicxs
continued to offer fresh and innova-
tive ideas on force planning and arms
control. In the wake of pressure from
both congressional bodies arid from
Members on both sides of the aisle,
the administration underjbok to
modify its START positions a
build down proposal, move, . rward on
a small, single warhead ICBM, and
create a durable, bipartiplcn arms cort
trol panel.
During the summer, merous meet-
ings were held with inistration of-
ficials to develop I'neaningful build
down proposal. T was a difficult
process which, f kly, became mired
at times in bure cratic quicksand.
Last month, enator NuNN, Senator
PERCY, and Ifflecided to make a final
attempt at vigorating the process.
We chose e medium of the Scow-
croft Co ission, which has been so
helpf t spring in moving the ad-
minis tion toward a useful melding
n. In a letter to General Scow-
the Reagan Administration and the
C ss can agree on a sensible strategic
pro m and on a coordinated, reasonable
ap towards arms control, we will
dam to that we have the political co-
hesio the long-term bipartisan com-
mi ed to maintain our strength
and r the risk of nuclear war.
We o 'ned our approach in seven
principl hich offered the near-term
benefits the build down concept-
immediate ductions as the price for
modernizat and a longer term ap-
proach to lying the major differ-
ences betw e United States and
the Soviet on strategic arms
control. We ized that to be ne-
gotiable, any ' osal to the Soviets
would have to fer meaningful re-
straints on strata c bombers, an area
in which the two untries are likely
to modernize algal antly in the next
decade. To deal h bomber forces
equitably and off vely will require
important negotiati breakthroughs.
The missile thro eight question
has been a major st Ming block in
START. By prop(' ig meaningful
limits in the area w re the United
States enjoys a sub ntial and in-
creasing advantage he bomber
force-we believed th the United
States could extract re ctions in the
area where the Soviets h Id a substan-
tial lead-missile throw w ight.
Senator NuNN, Senator PERCY, and I
felt that the approach we suggested
reflected, in addition to our own think-
ing, the ideas and views of congres-
sional colleagues who we believed were
on parallel tracks in their deadlings
with the administration. To merge
these tracks, we held a series of meet-
ings with Congressmen GORE, ASPIN,
and Dicxs. What emerged was a uni-
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CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE October 17, 1983
his artistic talent and inspiring personal ex-
ample of achievement.
FRIENDS: I am glad to be here in person
for this most memorable occasion. I wish to
thank the School Board members, Superin-
tendent John Harris, Principal Dale Erick-
son, the parents, and the city of Sioux Falls
for naming your new elementary school the
Oscar Howe School. It is an honor I will
always remember.
I have taught art to young people for
about thirty-five years, and I always found
my students to be interested and eager to
learn. They usually wanted to stay longer in
the classroom than they had to. They, in
turn, were an inspiration to me.
Art is one subject in which everyone can
participate. You don't have to be talented to
enjoy art.
I am being honored today for something
that gives one great personal pleasure and
satisfaction. I hope that through my work I
have contributed in a small way for a better
understanding of two cultures.
Thank you,
OSCAR HowE.?
of the world, the practical benefits of man
being in space hive generally been restrict-
ed to or controlled by those few nationg pps
sessing the requisite technologies. EM in
areas in which many receive benefits, such
as long-distance communications, the role of
space and its potentials are only dimly per-
ceived by the millions who utilize this revo-
lutionary capability.
And yet, the past 25 years have both dem-
onstrated the military and civilian uses of
space and created a base of human techno-
logical capital that appears to have self-sus-
taining growth potential. The decisions
have already been made, or soon will be,
that will expand and alter fundamentally
the ways in which space can be exploited.
The results of these changes would be awe-
some in their scope an consequences: global
ballistic missile defense, permanent manned
stations in space, bulk materials processing,
private space transportation systems and
direct broadcast communications. In addi-
tion, the relationship between government,
the private sector and international organi-
zations with respect to space is likely to
change radically as space becomes accessible
to nongovernment users.
gured for control of the land from the sea.
The development of a military service
whose primary function Is landward oper-
ations from the sea and the deployment of
land-attack aircraft, ballistic and cruise mis-
siles is evidence of the growing impact of
the sea on land warfare.
Rather than a space being an adjunct to
activities on the ground, it Is beginning to
take on a range of independent functions.
Soon extensive operations in space, or be-
tween points in space, may be possible. Op-
erations of the U.S. Space Transportation
Systems (STS), or the space shuttle, and of
the Soviet Soyuz and Salyut space station
are becoming routine. Yet, they signify an
ability to operate in and through near earth
space on a continuous basis. In addition, the
civil sector in space appears to be at the
point of acquiring an independent position,
free from the controls of limitations of na-
tional government. As a result of these
changes, control of space may be a critical
military, requirement, as necessary to na-
tional security as sea control has been over
the past two centuries. '
SPACE AS A MILITARY THEATER
THE OCEANS OF SPACE The United States, its allies and the
FUTURE IN OUTER --- ~..,.a , .. .w^Qa Soviet Union are nbw critically dependent
mr. rreslaent? pnors. -i-re smnie oI space auu open
wa,,c,o -based sensor systems provide
it is becoming increasingly clear that grows more profound as science expands its bons. systems attacks.
America's future is out of this world. search of the region above the atmosphere. early . The Unwp Space-based a States ballistic
ntains she Defense
The world's newest, and perhaps Like oceans, there are currents in space: TelUn C Statescmans System Defense
most important, frontier is outer storms, winds, safe harbors, where the the Fleet and Air Force Satellite Communi-
space. Space systems have potentially are equal, al and even fields t desearth, moon and sun cations Systems (FLTSATCOM and
"tides."
enormous commercial potential, and are a e Also, spaceship quapaceship and ." sailing ship have AFSATCOM, respectively), the NATO Com-
critical consequences for our national much in common. Both enable man to tra- munications Satellite System and Satellite
critical
security. Daniel Gourd, an expert on verse the open expanses from shore-to-shore Data System (SDS), all intended to provide
space systems, has an excellent article and require safe harbors for launching, re- global strategic and tactical communica-
in the September issue of Defense & supply and refitting. They enhance the ef- tions. The Soviet Molnlya system provides
Diplomacy on the importance of space fectiveness of activities in other media, such Moscow with a similar capability. Both the
as land-based communications and operate United States and Soviet Union deploy sat-
to ' leagues to re d it ca. Irefully. all my col- with unique sets of customary and written ellite-based sensors for the purposes of sur-
law. veillance, reconnaissance and targeting.
agues to read it ca.
I ask that Mr. Gourd's article, enti- The history of man's exploitation of the Such systems employ a wide variety of sens-
tled "Launching Space-Based Defense seas parallels efforts to exploit space. Earli- ing systems including photographic, in-
and Industry," be printed in the est use of the seas, what we might call the frared, radar and electromagnetic. While
RECORD. galley period, reflected the role of the seas the United States is believed to be ahead in
The article follows: as an adjunct to land activities. The tech- high-resolution photographic and image-
nology of the times limited open ocean oper- sensing systems, the Soviet Union possesses
LAUNCHING SPACE-BASED DEFENSE AND ations. Galley fleets were tied to the shore- several unique systems, In particular their
INDUSTRY lines. Moreover, galley fleets were essential- Radar and Electronic Oceans Surve(llance
(By Daniel Gourd), ly troop conveyers in wartime and not a systems (ROARSAT and EORSAT). In ad
The seven millenia of recorded history means for controlling the seas. The stand- dition, there are both meteorological and
contains only a handful of events to which ards for ship construction, naval artillery navigational systems that provide informs-
historinns and philosophers can point with and seamanship were such' as to force na- tion necessary for accurate strategic target-
confidence, stating: "Here the course of tions to apply land combat tactics to sea ing and for the operation of conventional
and naval forces. The U S NAVSTAR
"
warfare.
human progress was irrevocably altered.
Such events have involved the discovery of The next period, that of sail, was marked Global Positioning System, based on a
new lands, the development of scientific and by a dramatic change in both the technol- planned constellation of 24 satellites (eight
technological breakthroughs, and the for- ogy and utilization of the seas. Changes in are now deployed), will provide accurate
mulation of philosophic and social princi- ship design, the use of sails, the develop- time-of-arrival for position location any-
ples that affect man's ability to understand, ment of iron cannon and improved naviga- where on earth to within 30 meters of the
to cope and to alter his world. While with tion permitted extensive open-ocean oper- target.
reflection, the point at which such revolu- ations. In addition, civilian use of the seas Satellite surveillance systems are vital to
tions occurred can be accurately identified, became equal or greater- than that of the the maintenance of the superpower balance,
the realization of the benefits and conse- state. It should be remembered that the ma- the verification of arms control agreements
quences of the attainment of these frontiers jority of ships sailing for England against and to early warning of nuclear prolifera-
have often required years, even centuries, of the Spanish Armada were private vessels. tion. In 1978, then President Jimmy Carter
exploration and exploitation. The 20th cen- Indeed, the concept of the privateer, exem- confirmed what was already common knowl-
tury has already witnessed two such plified by Drake's 'round-the-world feat (in -edge, that "national technical means of ver-
changes: July 16, 1945, marked the begin- which the crown shared the profits), ification" central to enforcement of the
ning of the nuclear age with its uncertain became commonplace over the next three strategic arms control agreements depended
benefits and potentially catastrophic conse- centuries. Massive fleets of privately owned heavily on satellite systems. Indeed, these
quences; and Oct. A, 1957, brought man to vessels becarAe the mainstay of regional "spies in the sky" have been essential in
the shores of his last remaining frontier- economies, such as New England. maintaining global peace. Their ability to
outer space. The last period of the seas, the amphibi- provide access to otherwise inaccessible
The past quarter century has been our stage, reflects not only the ability to op- parts of the world has provided sufficient
marked by only the barest penetration and erate in virtually identical ways on both confidence regarding the state of military
utilization of this vast new realm. While land and sea, but also the extension of the preparedness by potential adversaries to
space "spectaculars" such as Sputnik, capacity to remain at sea. Sea-based drilling permit the United States, the USSR and
manned orbital flights, the moon landing, platforms, nuclear-powered ships and -others to adjust their own military plans ac-
establishment of Skylab and the Apollo- seabed mining are examples of this. In addi- cordingly. In the absence of such systems, It
Soyuz mission have captured the attention tion, military forces are increasingly confi- is possible that fears of "missile gap" would
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October 17, 1989
have resulted in an unrestrained arms race
and even war.,
Currently, though, there are no weapons
in space. The 1967 U.S. Outer Space Treaty
bans all nuclear weapons in space, on the
moon and on other celestial bodies. It does
not, however, prohibit the passage of nucle-
ar-armed missiles through space (a rather
pointed oversight). Nor does it prohibit di-
rectly the deployment of ground-based anti-
satellite weapons systems such as that al-
ready possessed by the USSR and under de-
velopment by the United States. The 1972
Antiballistic Missile Treaty between the
USSR and the United States prohibits also
the deployment of antiballistic missile
(ABM) systems or their components (radars,
missiles or launchers) in space. The United
Nations has proclaimed space to be.a "zone
of peace." Nevertheless, this zone is increas-
ingly indispensable to terrestrial military
planning and force posturing. As such, it is
potentially an arena for military conflict.
Space-based systems have for many years
served as a force multiplier, enhancing the
effectiveness of more conventional military
forces. However, it is the potential for the
deployment of active, as distinct from the
current passive, systems in space that would
produce a radical change in the role of
space in military planning. Currently, the
Soviet Union possesses the only operational
antisatellite (ASAT) capability. The Soviet
system consists of a large, conventionally or
nuclear-armed satellite launched by a ver-
sion of the SS-9 ICBM into a co-orbital in-
tercept with the target satellite. The
present generation Soviet system is effective
only against satellites in low-earth orbit
(1,000 miles), although use of a larger boost-
er could allow the system, particularly if
armed with a nuclear warhead, to attack
U.S. communications and early warning sys-
tems at geosynchronous orbit (22,500 miles).
The U.S. response to the threat to its sat-
ellites by an operational Soviet ASAT has
taken several forms, The review of the prob-
lem by the Carter administration resulted in
the formulation of a presidential directive
(PD)-37, which gave three objectives for
U.S. space policy: (1) enhance the survivabil-
ity of existing and planned space systems;
(2) initiate bilateral discussions with the
USSR on limiting ASAT weapons, and (3) in
the absence bf an ASAT arms control agree-
ment, develop a U.S. ASAT capability.
The United States has taken a number of
steps to improve the survivability of its sat-
ellite systems. It has announced an $18 bil-
lion satellite survivability program. Some
systems, such as defense communications
satellites, have "silent spares" already. in
orbit, that can be utilized to replace oper-
ational systems. Other avenues of protec-
tion include the development of"a rapid re-
constitution capability, hardening satellites
against shock or nuclear effects and en-
hanced ability to maneuver out of harm's
way. In addition, the United States is cur-
rently developing a comprehensive threat
Ipanagement and surveillance system to
warn of attack on U.S. satellites.
In addition, the United States has sought
to create a countervailing threat to the
Soviet ASAT. The U.S. ASAT system under
development consists of a miniature homing
vehicle (MHV) mounted on a two-stage
rocket and carried on an F-15 or similar air-
craft. Although the U.S. system could not
reach the altitudes of larger Soviet rockets,
its flexible launch mode would permit its
use against low-orbit satellites from virtual-
ly any spot on the globe.
The early generation ASAT systems are
but the forerunners of an array of potential
support and active military capabilities in
space. Advanced infrared technology and
mosaic array sensors may provide the basis
for detection of both ballistic and air-
breathing threats from space. One such
system cuurently being tested under the
name Teal Ruby, may serve as the space-
based sensor component of a large area air
defense capability. Advanced c421cepts in
ballistic missile defense (BMD) include use
of a mosaic array sensor overlay that, when
launched into the path of an incoming bal-
listic missile attack, discriminates targets
for a ground-based antiballistic missile de-
fense.
Even more revolutionary is the prospect
of placing defenses against ballistic missiles,
anitsatellite weapons and. even aircraft, in
space. Space presents some unique advan-
tages for the placement of strategic de-
fenses. From space, a defensive system
could, in theory, intercept ballistic missiles
while they were in the boost phase, prior to
to separation of the warheads from the mis-
sile itself. Attacking ballistic missiles . in
their boost phase would simplify the defen-
sive problem and create an advantageous
trade-off for the defender. Space is also the
best region for defending satellites; only be
co-orbiting defensive satellites (D-SAT's)
can the defender insure global protection
against hostile ASAT's.
A wide range of technologies is currently
being investigated for use in a space-based
defense. Some involve the use of near-term
technology in the form of ballistic missiles
armed with miniature homing vehicles,
pellet charges or even immense weighted
"umbrellas," all intended to be launched on
warning of attack and designed to use the
kinetic energy from direct impact with the
target to destroy it. One proposal receiving
renewed high level attention is the High
Frontier concept. This would use existing
technologies to deploy a fleet of satellites
armed with, multiple homing rockets. This
system is, distinct from most proposals in
that it combine. available technology with
space-basing. Some reports in the West at-
tribute a space-based battle station capabili-
ty to the Soviet Union. -
Potentially far more promising, however,
is the deployment of directed energy weap-
ons-lasers, charged-particle beams and X--
rays. Space is the perfect medium for the
use of such weapons. Additionally, systems
in space occupy a geographically advanta-
geous position with respect to the curvature
of the earth. A study by a congressional
committee noted: "The potential of high-
energy laser technology for altering the
strategic balance between the United States
and the USSR is presently unique." Con-
firming this view, a report by the General
Accounting Office recommended that the
Department of Defense speed up the devel-
opment and deployment of "a constellation
of laser battle stations in space" intended to
blunt a Soviet strategic attack. Orbiting in
space, a directed energy BMD system could
blunt the cutting edge of a Soviet attack as
well as defened U.S. satellites from Soviet-
ASAT's.
The importance of control -of space (in the
manner in which navies of the past exerted
sea control) as a doctrinal verity for the end
of the 20th century was brought into sharp
focus by President Ronald Reagan'a March
23, 1983, "Star Wars" speech. The revolu-
tionary essence of the president's statement
lay not with his suggestion that advance-
ments in ballistic missile defense might
enable a defender to repel successfully a
ballistic missile attack, but in his affirma-
tive of the necessity "to break out of a
future that relies solely upon offensive re-
taliation for our security." The core of the
president's vision was expressed rhetorical-
ly: "What if free people could live secure in
the knowledge that their security did not
rest upon the threat of instant U.S. retail-
S 13977
ation to deter a Soviet attack; that we could
intercept and destroy strategic ballistic mis-
siles before they could reach our own soil or
that of our allies?"
The president's remarks suggested to
many the creation of a ballistic missile de-
fense system in space, perhaps utilizing one
or more forms of directed energy. Two stud-
ies commissioned by the National Security
Council are currently under way to examine
all aspects of the issue of enhanced strategic
defense. As the president noted, the obsta-
cles to implementation of such a plan are
enormous. The deployment of a ballistic
missile defense satellite architecture involv-
ing dozens, possibly hundreds, of satellites is
a feat that has never been accomplished.
Merely procuring and launching this vast
number of satellites will be an extraordinar-
ily costly. and complex task. Estimates of
the cost of such a system go as high as $300
billion, with the likely figure in the range of
$50 billion to $100 billion. Additionally, di-
rected energy weapons require extremely
high pointing accuracy, exact target track-
ers and very high power output to enable
such a weapon to be used against ballistic
missiles. Such technologies are only in the
development stage. Currently, the U.S. gov-
ernment is spending almost $500 million on
development of directed energy weapons. If
congressional and defense enthusiasts have
their way, this number will soon climb to
several billion dollars.
The awesome potential of these new of-
fensive and defensive technologies has re-
sulted in a radical readjustment of military
doctrine and strategy with respect to space-
based. systems. In September, 1982, the
USAF created Space Command to exercise
consolidated control over the vast array of
air force space programs. Space Command
would be the logical institution to control
active U.S. military space systems. Much as
the development of the Strategic Air Com-
mand heralded a fundamental shift in U..S.
strategy and doctrine, so too, the advent of
Space Command suggests a deliberate effort
to coordinate and control virtually all as-
pects of U.S. operations in space.
The increasing dependence of terrestrial
military forces on space-based systems for
targeting, reconnaissance, navigation and
communication, as well as the potential de-
ployment of ballistic and air defenses in
space, underscores the importance of space
as an arena of future conflict apd as per-
haps the most important region in a future
military conflict. Operations in space have
and will continue to expand and grow in im-
portance in their own right. To insure the
effective operation of terrestrial forces, to
defend against hostile attack and to main-
tain adequate surveillance and reconnais-
sance of hostile forces, the United States, its
allies and even the Soviet Union must have
the capacity to operate independently in
space and, if necessary sweep the skies of
hostile forces.
SPACE-ORIENTED COMMERCE
Were space to remain an area reserved pri-
marily for military activities and if only a
few nations were able to play, the potential
for conflict and competition might resolve
itself with relative simplicity. However, the
era when only the superpowers were able to
operate in space has ended. State domina-
tion of activities in space will also come to
an end. The future of commercial and civil
activities in space is likely to be exceedingly
complex and competitive as new players,
governments, international organizations
and corporations begin their move into
space. Changes in the customary uses of
space carry with them a host of unresolved
questions with respect to national sovereign-
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S 13978 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE October 17, 1983
ty in space, the legal regime and protection General Dynamics are exploring the possi- Additional near-term investment in space
of nationals in space, access rights and bilities of selling their Delta/Centaur sys- commerce includes expansion of existing
police powers. tems, respectively, to private customersr satellite communications capabilities, en-
Civil space systems are of growing impor- NASA plans to select one commercial open= hanced remote sensing and geologic map-
tance in a number of fields. Space-based ation to use each of the expendable system& ping and improved navigation. Curre&:+.;;,
communications has demonstrated the Launches would take place form Cape Ca- most communications satellites operate in a
greatest utility and profitability. A single naveral or Vandenberg Air Forde Base. relatively narrow band of frequenc-es
communications satellite, while costing per- The growth in potential competitors for known as the C-band. Because of dispersal
haps $60 million to build and another $40 both satellites and launch services is paral- of signals, this requires a 4? separation be-
million to launch and operate, will return leled by a progressive uncertainty and lack tween satellites at geosynchronous orbit se-
projected revenues of up to $700 million of direction in the U.S. space program. The verely limiting available slots. Movement to
over its useful lifetime. Currently all rev- failure of the shuttle to reach commercial the higher Ku and Ka bands will allow
enues from satellite-borne communications status with predicted rapidity and low cost, smaller intervals between satellites, provide
exceed $1 billion. This is expected to rise to the cancellation of major experimental and additional frequencies and establish more
$10 billion by 1990. Space is also extremely exploration programs and a lack of funds open slots. Increased demand for long-dis-
useful in the areas of weather forecasting, has placed the U.S. program in a temporary tance communications will also results in de-
remote sensing, global navigation and, of limbo. One specific example of the uncer- velopment of larger, multifunction plat-
course, scientific experimentation. tainty in the U.S. program was the decision forms with on-board processing and switch-
Civil activities in space are marked by an to provide NASA with expendable launch Ing capabilities. An important function of
almost explosive horizontal and vertical vehicles, which were to be phased out to pri- these improved systems will be in direct
growth in space-related capabilities. Howev- vate operators when the shuttle reached access to privately owned receiving dishes.
er, proliferation of space capabilities has operational status. Another has been the Also, the United States is about to deploy
been most marked in the area of satellite on-again/off-again effort to sell U.S. weath- the remote
construction. Among the operators of satel- er and Landsat resources satellites to the new band sobe improved rnc sensing lite communications systems are France, private sector. The Congressional Office of with may soon t ominated by France
Canada, Japan, Australia, India, Indonesia, Technology Assessment has warned that a with its Spot System and the Japanese
and the Satellite Communications Orgarziza- dent funding and poor government-private launched in 1985.
tion (ARABSAT). While most rely heavily sector relations might leave the United The practical requirements to support
on U.S. technology, ESA, France and Japan States vulnerable to foreign competition. commercial artivites in space are formida-
have began domestic design and production Where is the U.S. space program to go? ble. Cor?,sistently available, reliable trans-
of satellite systems. Increasingly, these What is the future for commercial activities portation systems, rn oonsive satellite serv-
countries are competing with the United in space? Not surprisingly, the answers to ing (repair, re;ziaccment, resupply), reliable
States on frontiers of space technology. The these two questions are related. For the controls over automated systems, construc-
planned Spacelab, the International Solar- United States, the objective of the space tion techniques and materials for large ob-
Polar Mission and the Halley's Comet flyby program is a permanent orbiting space stn- jects in space and adequate energy sources
are European-dominated efforts. tion. Many expected President Reagan to are some of the areas that need further de-
More formidable than completition in sat- articulate this objective in his July 4, 1982, velopment.
ellite design and construction is the emer- speech welcoming home the Space Shuttle A situation in which the private sector
gency of international and civil sector col- Columbia. Increased pressure from Con- takes an active role in space poses particular
petition in space launch service. First of gress, the scientific community and the challenges and responsibilities for national
these has been the ESA/Arianspace Soviet Union, which appears to be on the governments, and particularly their defense
"Arian," able to life between 5,000 and threshold of a workable manned station is establishments. At the same time, the will-
6,000 pounds of payload to low-earth orbit. likely to require an executive decision, per- ingness of private corporations to risk in-
Capitalizing on delays and cost growth in baps even by the end of 1983. vesting In space -used capabilities will be
the planned U.S. space shuttle program, Moscow has repeatedly stated its objective predicated on their belief that those invest-
Arianspace has undertaken an aggressive for a large permanent space station by 158& ments will be relatively safe from legal or
marketing campaign to win customers away Such an event could have the international physical challenges. Both the private and
from U.S. launch-services. Arianspace has impact of another Sputnik or moon landing. governmental sectors will require close and
provided. preferential financial terms, in- At this point the United States, without continual interaction. Eventually, civil space
cluding partial-payment of launch fees until clearly recognizing the situation, is in a race activities could necessitate a broadening of
operators can recoup costs from satellite op- with the Soviet Union. governmental responsibilities in the areas of
erations, which NASA has been unable to If the concept of a space station is to suc- physical security, safety, licensing and oper-
match- To date, U.S, corporation such as teed, it must be justified not merely on the sting regulations and patent protection.
Western Union, GTE and Southern Pacific grounds of scientific experimentation or na- To operate efficiently, commercial activi-
Communications Corp, have chosen the con- tional security but as the basis for the fur- ties require security. The nation permitting
venience and lower cost of Ariane over the ther commercialization of space. Space, due civilian activities in space must be prepared
shuttle or the remaining U.S. expendable to its freedom from gravitational stresses, to go into space to provide the requisite se-
rocket, the Delta. relatively clean environment and access to curity and rule of law. Thus, expansion of
Additional competition is closing in on high energy radiation, is an ideal environ- commercial activities into new terrain, or on
U.S. dominance of the launch market. The meet for a wide range of speciality industri- the high seas, was followed by the planting
Japanese National Space Development al processes. The fields of materials process- of the flag and incorporation of those new
Agency (NASDA) has developed two launch ing, including speciality alloys, growth of territories into the legal and security struc-
vehicles based on U.S, technology that can special semiconductor and crystalline mate- ture of the state. This marked the age of
life medium payloads into orbit. The Soviet rials and separation of pharmaceuticals ap- sail; so too, will it mark the coming era in
Union has recently offered its Proton satel- pears particularly attractive. A recent shut- space.
his launch system as the vehicle for the de- tle-based experiment designed by McDon-
livery of the International Maritime Satel- nell Douglas demonstrated a 700-fold im- CONCLUSIONS
llte Organization's (Inmarsat) second gen- provement In the ability to separate biologi- A bare quarter of a century ago, the first
eration communications satellite. Both cal proteins. The costs of such activities are artificial :satellite was placed in orbit: less
Arianspace and NASDA are believed to be extremely high: launch and recovery costs than four years later, the first astronaut cir-
developing even larger launch vehicles to alone can amount to $5,000 per pound. How- cled the earth, and, in a short 12 years, man
life heavier payloads or to reach geosynch- ever, the returns can be equally staggering. landed on the moon. To suggest, therefore,
orbit. ,
For example, advanced semiconductor mate- that the next quarter of a century will see
National space organizations are only one rials such as gallium arsenide are worth up permanent manned stations in space, auto-
source of competition. A growing number of to $50,000 a pound There are at least 23 mated factories and laboratories, and a
private companies are seeking entry into the biological pharmaceuticals virtually Impossi- space command operating a global network
launch market. Already one private corpora- ble to produce in quantity cn earth that of antiballistic missile battle stations,
tion, Space Services, Inc., has successfully would sell for-nearly $1 billion per pound. cannot be discounted as farfetched, nor can
launched a test booster. Another, Space Container-free metals processing can pro- the consequences for the global economy
Transportation inc., is pressing for private duce a several orders-of-magnitude improve- and strategic stability be overstated.
financing and control of a fifth shuttle or- meat in materials purity and value. NASA At issue is what role the United States
biter. Martin Marietta and Federal Express has identified nearly 100 companies inter- and other industrialized nations will play in
have formed a joint venture to market the ested in testing the potential for commercial exploiting the unique economic and military
Tital III booster, long the workhorse of activities in space. U.S, and foreign compa- opportunities provided by activities in space.
NASA's launch program, as the vehicle for nies have already begun designing future If the Untied States is to meet the military
Intelsat's new generation of communica- space factories expected to be operational as challenges posed by the Soviet space pro-
tions satellites. McDonnell Douglas and early as 1985. gram and the commercial challenges pre-
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S 13980 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD - SENATE October 17, 1983
SODBUSTING IN MONTANA: A Bennett, first director of the Soil Conserva- converted to non-irrigated cropland between
1980'S DUST BOWL? tion Service (SCS), as a turning point in 1977 and 1982, according to the "Report of
? Mr. ARMSTRONG. Mr. President, arousing public awareness of the problem: the State Department of Revenue" which is
"This particular dust storm blotted out furnished to the governor and Legislature
the current issue of Montana Out- the sun over the nation's capital, drove grit every two years. Currently, the state has
doors, published by the Montana De- between the teeth of New Yorkers, and scat- about 21 million acres of unplowed, highly
partment of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, tered dust on the decks of ships 200 miles erodible marginal grassland. Nobody knows
contains one of the best articles I have out to sea. I suspect that when people along how much of this will be up for grabs in the
seen about the problem of sodbusting the seaboard of the eastern United States future. Also, no one knows how many non-
se general, and in Montana in particu- began to taste fresh soil from the plains family corporations are operating in the
lar. 2,000 miles away, many of them realized for state or how much non-irrigated cropland
th f!
t
i
The problem of conversion of fragile
grasslands into croplands has become
so serious that many writers are begin-
ning to openly discuss the prospects of
a dust bowl throughout the West like
that which ravaged our land and im-
poverished so many 50 years ago.
The article, by Ken Walcheck, is
very well written and well researched,
and I think every Senator should read
this who is concerned about this prob-
lem. It mentions S. 663, my bill which
would put an end to Government sub-
sidies for the sodbusters. The bill is-
scheduled to be marked up in the Agri-
culture Committee this week, and I
hope the committee will report the
measure to the full Senate so we can
act on it before the end of the session.
In the meantime, I ask that the arti-
cle be printed in the RacoltD and en-
courage all my colleagues to read it.
The article follows:
SODBIISTING IN MONTANA: A 1980's DUST
BOWL?
(By Ken Walcheck)
April 18, 1981: Angela, Montana. The
warm wind grew stronger and brisker. Little
by little, the sky was dardened by choking
clouds of billowing dust. The wind raced
over the plowed fields, loosened the topsoil,
and lifted the finer particles into the air. As
the day advanced, the wind increased, rais-
ing dirty plumes high above the fields.
There was a biting sting In the air and the
wheat stubble shook violently as the wind
cried and whimpered over the parched
ground An enormous wall of dirt blotted
out the sun's dim red circle and halted traf-
fic on State Highway 22 in the Angela area,
28 miles northwest of Miles City.
"Angela blew by last night," was the first
sentence in a letter to the editor of the
Miles City Star the day after the storm.
Written by a downwind resident of Terry,
the letter expressed indignation and dismay
over the loss of precious topsoil from the
Angela plowout, a 20,000-acre chunk of frag-
ile, prairie grassland that had been plowed
in 1976 and 1977, and then block farmed
It seems to take a disaster of this sort to
make people realize there's a problem on
their doorstep. We should have learned an
unforgettable lesson from the "dirty '30s,
but the human memory is sometimes woe-
fully short. There are parallels to what hap-
pened during those Dust Bowl years and
what is now happening in some parts of the
country.
From 1926 to 1931, there was hardly
enough rain to settle the dust. During the
summer of '31, farmers gazed into cloudless
skies where a relentless sun beat down from
dawn till sunset. Topsoil turned to powder,
and grain that mustered enough moisture to
germinate turned to chaff before It devel-
oped a head. In the spring of '34 and again
in '35, blast-furnace winds of gale strength
sent soil flying skyward in black clouds that
grew thicker every day. During May of 1934,
a major wind storm battered the plains.
That storm was later described by Hugh H.
e ra
t
me that somewhere something they control. One such corporation has re-
had gone wrong with the land.... It took portedly plowed out more than 150,000
that storm to awaken the nation as a whole acres of rangeland in the state.
to some realization of the menace of ero- Recent large-scale sodbusting of fragile
sion." grasslands in Montana includes the 50.000-
There is a postscript to the story of the acre Crow Rock plowout (Garfield and Prai-
Dust Bowl worth remembering: Land rie counties and the 60,000-acre (in prog-
cannot be abused without consequence. ress) Winnett plowout in Petroleum County.
In 1980, former Secretary of Agriculture Although soil capability classes (the SCS
Bob Bergland estimated that more than groups soils into eight capability classes, the
10% of the land under cultivation in the risks of soil damage or the limitations in use
United States was eroding at unacceptably becoming greater from Class 1 to Class 8)
high levels-more than 14 tons of soil per .have not been completely mapped for the
acre per year. Nationwide, we annually lose two plowouts, most of the land d is in Class 4
about 5 billion tons of topsoil to erosion, ac- and sizable s, portions are the in Classes is 6 and 7,
cording the SCS. Only 2 billion tons were which the SCS considers as having severe
lost in 1934-the worst year of the Dust limitations that make them unsuitable for
Bowl. In Montana, about 7% of the cropland cultivation. The majority of the state's crop-
undergoes an annual erosion rate of more land is considered Class 3-soil that is erod-
SCS erosion report for March 14 acre through per year. June The ible, but still farmable. Conservation meth-
of 1 ods, such as strip cropping and stubble man-
of 1983 estimates that 360,000 00 acres o of f Mon- agement, must be used on soil.
tana's croplands were damaged from wind ,.Soils Class 4 have severe limitations
erosion. Blaine County led the state with
over 84,500 acres damaged. that require intensive management," says
"How can this be possible?" You might Dennis Loreth, Forsyth-based district con-
ask, especially when Americans vowed servationist for the SCS. Loreth is con-
"Never again!" after the Dust Bowl era cerned with soil erosion problems on some
What about conservation programs? And of the large block-farmed plowouts In which
how about sophisticated agricultural sys- the operators use continuous cropping in-
tems, farm policies, and other conservation stead of strip cropping or other semiarid
incentive programs? Concerned citizens, conservation practices which grew out of
from congressmen to farmers, are now the sad experiences of the Dust Bowl era
asking these questions. "Part of the "One major wind storm battering a large
answer," wrote R. Neil Sampson in his book, block-farming unit, such as the 31 square-
"Farmland or Wasteland," "is that conser- mile Angela unit, can remove as much as 15
vation programs had been working, but on a tons of topsoil an acre or more," stresses
very low level of funding and activity. While Loreth. The 1981 dust storm which intro-
the task of protecting farmland had been duced this article attests to the validity of
growing more and more difficult, the Loreth's statement, In Kiowa County, Colo-
amount of money directed toward the task redo, an estimated 150 tons of soil per acre
had actually been shrinking In purchasing were lost in one huge dust storm in Febru-
power. . The 'farm problem' facing na- ary 1977.
tional policy makers rested not on the fact So why does sodbusting continue? If thou-
that U.S. agriculture didn't work, but that it sands of farming operations are folding
worked too well." each year because' of inflation, depressed
The "too well" part of the equation fo- markets, high operating costs, and high in-
cused on: increasingly better farm technol. tercet rates, what are the incentives for con-
ogies, intensified farming, an expanding tinuing to break more land?
global market, government subsidy pay- Part of the answer lies In the difference
ments, and favorable weather patterns.. All between grassland and cropland prices. In
of these factors-and others-combined to the semiarid West, dryland cropland is
lure some people into maximum output for priced at about double what the same land
quick profits, conservation efforts be is worth with only grass for cattle. The
damned. Runaway inflation, surplus crop monetary difference is a major incentive for
yields, international political changes, pe- an investor to increase the land's value by
troleum supply disruptions, and falling com- converting it to cropland, even though a
modity prices further complicate the agri- continuous cropping system may produce
culture-erosion. equation. marginal (or poorer) yields. -
This past May, I flew over the Crow Rock The investor or corporation buying, plow-
plowout north of Miles City that will be in& and reselling the land also takes advan-
block farmed for winter wheat. Looking at tage of U.S. tax laws and tax shelters. Costs
more than 70 square miles of plowed turf of breaking and seeding the land are tax de-
from the air is mind boggling. Your eyes ric- ductible. While the value of the land may
ochet east, west, north, south. As you spot double just because it has grown a couple of
the huge four-wheel-drive tractors kicking grain crops, the increase is "capital gain,"
up dust, you can better appreciate how new and only 40% of the profit is taxable.
farm technologies-all designed to substi- Federal subsidy programs also encourage
tute capital, petroleum, fertilizers, or tech- sodbusting. According to the July 25, 1983
nology for labor-have made many conser- issue of Newsweek, "... government subsi-
vation practices obsolete, without providing dies to farmers will explode to $21 billion
new techniques to replace the old. this year. Even more amazing is that those
Despite what is known about the farm subsidies will just about equal the total
problem, the plowing of fragile grasslands- earnings of American farmers this
usually in tracts of several thousand acres- year...." Some people believe that govern-
in Montana and elsewhere continues. In ment price support programs provide a big
Montana, 749,822 acres of grassland were Incentive to sodbusters and are instrumen-
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 Approved For Release 2008/09/11: CIA-RDP86B00338R000200280022-8
ftSEP
es
t
13y rump J. Hilts
*"Wngton Pat Staff Writer
ou101?
Congressional resolutions intend-
ed to thwart President Reagan's con-
troversiAl plan to sell the nation's
weather satellites to the private sec-
'tor are expected to be' introduced
this week.
Identical resolutions are to be in=
troduced by five Republicans in the
Senate and eight Democrats in the
l Iouse, according' to congressional
staff members, who predict quick
r ;and overwhelming passage in both
chambers.
The resolutions declare that it is
,the sense of the Congress that "it is
not appropriate at this time" to turn
weather satellites over to-private en-
terprise.
`The resolutions would not have
the force of law or prevent the sale
of satellites: However, administra-
tion officials and members of Con-
gress said that it probably would be
illegal to sell the satellites without
.explicit congressional approval.
"This will put everyone on notice
that the Congress has no intention of
approving" the sale of weather Aat-
ellites, a key congressional aide said.
The administration is said to be'
within weeks of asking companies to
bid on the satellites. But Ray Kam-
Ner, the Commerce Department of
)'jcial handling the sale, predicted
that passage of the resolutions would
;'t lave a cooling effect" on bidders'
-,rthusiasm, "It certainly does not
.elp further my job," he said.
About 10 corporations have ex-
pressed interest in acquiring the sat-
ellites. One of the firms is the Com-
munications Satellite Corp. (Com-.
sat), which several years ago first
suggested to the Commerce Depart-
ment that the satellites be sold.
Kammer said it is difficult to
know how many companies will be-
come serious bidders because they
"already know there are a lot of con-
gressmen that don't like the idea" of
selling weather satellites.
The proposed sale has generated
strong opposition since being an-
nounced March 8 by Reagan. After
hearings, Congress passed a joint
resolution declaring that no sale
should take place without congres-
sional approval of its terms.
ffite Sale
In April, Commerce Deputy Sec- Congressional opposition . to' the
celeryGuy W. Fiske, was told. to ' weather-satellite sale has been le4 by
recuse himself from any further role ' Rep. James H. Scheuer '(D-N.Y.).
in the sale because he had discussed Scheuer said he has found "solid,
job offers with Comsat at the same bipartisan support for this legisla-
time he was guiding that company's tion. I am confident that quick ac-
proposal through Commerce, tion will be taken In the Senate, and
The depprtment's general counsel, the House will concur.
Sherman E. Unger, wrote in a memo "The only question will be how far
that Fiske's actions "created the ap- the administration is willing to go in
pearance of ... using public office continuing to support a transfer pro-
for private gain ...." posal that is transparently not in the
Fiske has resigned from Com- interests of the American'people and
merce. He is- being investigated by simply designed to benefit one large,
the Justice Department for possible profit-making corporation:"
criminal conflict of interest. He has The resolutions declare that the
denied any impropriety. government traditionally has collect-
The administration has gone ed and distributed to the public in-
ahead with its plan to sell weather, formation about the weather, and
land and' planned ocean satellites. has freely exchanged this informa-
tion with other countries. The res-
olutions contend that selling weather
satellites would create a "govern-
ment-subsidized monopoly and jeop-
ardize the cost efficiency and reli-
ability of data gathered 'by civil me-
teorological satellites."
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