ARMS CONTROL IN OUTER SPACE HEARINGS BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND SCIENTIFIC OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS NINETY-EIGHTH CONGRESS NOVEMBER 10, 1983; APRIL 10, MAY 2, AND JULY 26, 1984 38-353 O Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1984 COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS CLEMENT J. ZABLOCKI, Wisconsin, Chairman 1 LEE H. HAMILTON, Indiana MICHAEL D. BARNES, Maryland GEO. W. CROCKETT, JR., Michigan PETER H. KOSTMAYER, Pennsylvania MEL LEVINE, California EDWARD F. FEIGHAN, Ohio GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York ROBERT GARCIA, New York WILLIAM S. BROOMFIELD, Michigan BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York TOBY ROTH, Wisconsin HENRY J. HYDE, Illinois GERALD B. H. SOLOMON, New York DOUGLAS K. BEREUTER, Nebraska MARK D. SILJANDER, Michiga ED ZSCHAU, California FOREWORD HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, DC. The subject of arms control in space and the evaluation of appropriate U.S. policy in this area is of increasing concern to the Congress and to the Committee on Foreign Affairs in our efforts to reach an international agreement to preserve the peaceful use of space. It is in keeping with the development of space for peaceful purposes and from a sincere desire to prevent the escalation of the arms race into the arena of space that the Subcommittee on International Security and Scientific Affairs has conducted a series of hearings on "Arms Control in Outer Space." The hearings focused on an examination and evaluation of the arms control, foreign policy, and national security implications of the administration's Strategic Defense Initiative [ŠDI] and its antisatellite [ASAT] weapons policy. * * Shortly after the President's March 23, 1983, speech in which he initiated the Strategic Defense Initiative by calling upon the scientific community "to give us the means of rendering * nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete," the subcommittee on November 10, 1983, began its series of hearings under the leadership of our distinguished late chairman, the Honorable Clement J. Żablocki. The subcommittee completed three additional hearings on April 10, May 2, and July 26, 1984. The subcommittee received testimony from a number of congressional and administration witnesses and private experts in the scientific and arms control communities as well as from former Government officials with knowledge in this area. The subcommittee will continue its careful scrutiny of this subject and so far has released a May 18 subcommittee "Interim Report on the Administration's Space Arms Control and Defense Policy" which appears as appendix 1 to these hearings. In brief, the subcommittee identified five major areas of concern. These include: 1. Excessive costs of the U.S. military space policy. 2. Conclusive evidence that a perfect or near perfect defense is not technically feasible. 3. Adverse impact on arms control, especially the ABM Treaty. 4. Enhanced likelihood of a dual arms race. 5. Likely alienation of our closest allies in Europe. Regarding U.S. antisatellite [ASAT] weapons policy, the subcommittee learned that while the administration does not view ASAT's |