Congress of the United States
House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
June 13, 1995
The Honorable William J. Clinton
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Clinton,
We are writing to raise our deep concern about the possible
resumption of nuclear testing by the Government of France in the
South Pacific and the possible impact on American citizens and
nationals who live in the Pacific. In meeting with French
President Jacques Chirac on June 14 at the White House, we urge
you to seek assurances from him that France will continue its
current testing moratorium and support continued negotiations for
a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
With over 100 nuclear bombs having been detonated in the
South Pacific, the people of the Pacific have gained a firsthand
appreciation of the hazards of nuclear weapons. The renewal of
tests at the Moruroa test site will place the Pacific environment
at further risk of radioactive contamination. We join leaders of
American Samoa, Guam and other Pacific communities in voicing our
strong opposition to the environmental threat that additional
testing poses.
With the renewal of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) last month, France and other nuclear weapons states gave a
solemn pledge to continue to exercise "utmost restraint" with
regard to nuclear testing. A resumption of testing would
undermine the NPT and raise serious questions about France's
commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament.
Your meeting with President Chirac is of particular
importance in light of the on-going CTBT discussions by the
United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and the G-7
meeting later this week in Halifax.
As the world looks on, we ask that you reaffirm your
leadership on this issue and convince President Chirac that any
resumption of testing will be a step backward for non-
proliferation and have serious negative impacts on the
international non-proliferation regime.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Underwood (Guam)
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega (American Samoa)
Lee Hamilton (Indiana)
Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii)
Patsy T. Mink (Hawaii)
Norman Y. Mineta (California)
Lane Evans (Illinois)
Howard Berman (California)
Tom Lantos (California)
Bill Richardson (New Mexico)
John Lewis (Georgia)
Gary L. Ackerman (New York)
Martin T. Meehan (Massachusetts)
Robert F. Matsui (California)
Bernard Sanders (Vermont)
George Brown (California)
Lynn C. Woolsey (California)
George Miller (California)
Nancy Pelosi (California)
Major B. Owens (New York)
Ronald V. Dellums (California)