Disarmament Diplomacy
Issue No. 30, September 1998
1999 US Defense Budget Approved
On 1 October, Congress completed the process of approving the
Fiscal Year (FY) 1999 US defence budget. The budget legislation
will now be sent to President Clinton, who is expected to sign it
without delay.
The total expenditure involved is $270.8 billion, made up of a
$250.5 billion Defense Authorization Act and $21.3 billion to be
spent by the Department of Energy (DOE), which has responsibility
for the US nuclear-weapons stockpile and infrastructure. The $270.8
billion total represents an overall increase of $2.2 billion on FY
1998.
The 1999 budget includes:
- $440 million for the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program
providing assistance in maintaining the safety and security of
nuclear weapons and the military nuclear, and chemical and
biological, infrastructure in the former Soviet Union - this sum
includes $95 million to assist in the elimination of strategic
nuclear weapons; $61 million to build a fissile-materials storage
facility in Russia; and $88.4 million to assist in the destruction
of Russian chemical weapons.
- $52 million for various demining initiatives, $18.7 million for
research into low-cost demining technologies, and $2 million for
research into alternatives to landmines - the US is aiming to
replace all its landmines by 2006, paving the way for its entry
into the Ottawa Landmines Convention.
The Defence Authorization Act also stipulates that control over the
granting of licenses for satellite exports should revert to the
State Department from the Commerce Department by 15 March 1999. The
move comes in the wake of controversy over US satellite exports to
China, an issue currently the subject of numerous Congressional
investigations (see Disarmament
Diplomacy, No. 27 & Disarmament Diplomacy, No. 28). The
Act also prohibits the export of satellites to China in the absence
of Presidential certification that there is no risk of significant,
militarily-useful technology transfer. US officials tried
unavailingly to persuade Congress that sufficient safeguards were
built into the existing system; reportedly, the Administration will
continue to argue for a retention of the status quo.
The budget was approved by the House of Representatives on 28
September, which adopted the Defense Authorization portion by 369
votes to 43, and the DOE portion by 389 votes to 25. The Senate
approved the Defence Authorization portion by 94 votes to 2 on 29
September, and the DOE portion on 1 October, by 96 votes to 2.
Reports: State may decide satellite exports,
Associated Press, 18 September; House agrees to US defense
programs for 1999, Reuters, 24 September; House OKs bills
financing Pentagon, Associated Press, 28 September;
Congressional Report, 30 September; Congress clears 1999
military programs, Reuters, 2 October.
© 1998 The Acronym Institute.
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