US Senator Jack Reed's work to defeat the development of a new nuclear weapon and reduce spending for President Bush's proposed missile defense system has won the praise of peace activists. Meanwhile, US Senator Lincoln Chafee's support for Reed's stance may ensure that the full US Senate passes the spending cuts.

Last week, in a party-line vote, the US Senate Armed Services Committee cut $15 million in research for the proposed "bunker-buster" nuclear weapon, which, opponents fear, may trigger a new arms race and the resumption of nuclear testing. The committee also cut missile defense funding by $812 million, or 10 percent. The Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, which Reed chairs, endorsed both positions.

"It's a big victory," says David Culp, legislative representative for the Quaker group, Friends Committee on National Legislation. "If it wasn't for [Reed], we wouldn't have won. He lined up the votes."

Adds Carol Bragg of the Rhode Island Peace Mission, which lobbied Reed on the issue, "He should be commended and congratulated. It's a courageous position in light of the current political situation."

The full Senate could vote on the legislation as early as next week, Culp says, and then Chafee "very easily could be the deciding vote." The Senate has 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and an independent who generally votes with the Democrats. One or two Southern Democrats may vote to restore the weapon systems, Culp relates, "and if we don't get Chafee . . . then it becomes very, very difficult to get another Republican." With Chafee, Culp predicts that Republicans Gordon Smith of Oregon and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania may join Democrats to defeat the expected amendment.

Chafee fully supports Reed's stance. Recalling hiding under his desk during civil defense drills as a school child, he says he doesn't want the threat of World War III to return, adding, "The world community should be working more diligently to prevent [nuclear] proliferation."

Rhode Island's junior senator also decries the Bush administration's rhetoric in suggesting the US may use nuclear weapons against Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, or China. The September 11 attack has contributed to the changed mood, Chafee says, but he notes, "Some in the [Bush] administration are using that as an excuse to promote that agenda which they were looking to promote before 9/11."

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives defeated an amendment, offered by US Representative Ed Markey of Massachusetts, to eliminate the bunker-buster, 172-243, despite support from Representatives James Langevin and Patrick Kennedy. Consequently, should the Reed-backed provisions pass the Senate, they would still be debated by a joint Senate-House conference committee.

Issue Date: May 17 - 23, 2002