02/01 US Enviro & Peace Activists Rally for Nuke Disarmament

[the.greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org]

----------
Original-TO:      World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-Cc:      The Greenbase (Green2:Green2:Gnl:Main)
----------
               ************************
               GREENPEACE PRESS RELEASE
               ************************
 
>> ENVIRONMENTAL & PEACE ACTIVISTS RALLY FOR NUCLEAR
DISARMAMENT, CALL ON CLINTON AND CHIRAC TO ENSURE END OF
NUCLEAR ARMS RACE  
 
WASHINGTON, February 1, 1996 (GP) As President Clinton met
with French President Jacques Chirac today, environmental and
peace activists rallied at the First Congregational Church at
10th and G Street, and then marched to the White House where
they presented a letter signed by celebrities, activists and
Congressmen calling on Clinton and Chirac to take concrete
steps towards nuclear disarmament. 
 
Speaking at the rally were American Samoa Delegate Eni
Faleomavaega, renowned activist Daniel Ellsberg, Director of
Physicians for Social Responsibility Bob Musl, and Greenpeace
Executive Director Barbara Dudley.
 
"It's a sign of Gaullist arrogance for President Chirac to
test a 120-kiloton nuclear bomb on Saturday, and then turn
around two days later and announce that he will lead the
struggle for global nuclear disarmament," said Bob Musl,
Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility. "We are here
today to tell Clinton and Chirac that actions speak louder
than words. Stop testing, stop producing, and start
dismantling your nuclear bombs."
   
France's sixth nuclear test Saturday occurred just days after
the start of international talks in Geneva to end nuclear
weapons tests. Last May, Presidents Clinton and Chirac
promised the 120 signatory nations of the Nuclear Non-

Proliferation Treaty a truly Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in
1996. However, France
immediately began testing, and the U.S. -- after pushing for a
'zero yield' CTBT -- announced it would conduct a series of
tests on nuclear weapons starting this year in Nevada.
 
The letter presented at the White House demanded Chirac and
Clinton complete a "zero-yield" Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) this year, halt the development of new nuclear weapons,
and close and remediate U.S. and French nuclear test sites. 
The signatories were: U.S. Representatives Ed Markey (D-MA),
James Leach (R-IA), Louis Stokes (D-OH), Lynn Woolsey (D-CA),
and Eni Faleomavaega (D-American Samoa); Ex-CIA Director
William Colby; actors Pierce Brosnan, Keely Shay Smith, Ed
Begley Jr., Johnny Depp; model Christie Brinkley; musicians
Michael Stipe and Brenda Boozer; professors Meir Ribalow and
David Koplow; and, activists Jonathan Grannof and Greenpeace
Executive Director Barbara Dudley.  
 
CONTACT: Tim Andrews, 202.319.2494, Jonathan Hall 202.319.2542
----------