LETTER TO DAVID BOREN FROM WILLIAM PROXMIRE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90M00005R000300100041-8
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 27, 2012
• Sequence Number: 41
• Publication Date: June 13, 1988
• Content Type: LETTER

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DAVIT i PORE N !)K; AROMA CHAIRMAN
W, -AV,, CJREh MAINE VICE CHAIRMAN
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Wi?11M R(1'? IR DE . AN ARE
NA FRAN? M,ik KJV A A.ASKA
AR. EN SPECTER PE NNSVI VANIA
CR'f A((r" NEIA"A
JOAN Al AR NER ? R, NIA
ROPER' C BYRD WE!' VIRGINIA EX OFFICIO
ROBERT DOLE KANSAS EB OFFICIO
SVEN E HOMES STAFF DIRECTOR AND GENERAL COUNSEL
JAMES R DYKSTRA MINORITY STAFF DIRECTOR
KATHLEEN P McGHEE CHIEF CLERK
WASHINGTON DC 20510-6475
OCA FILE ' !.
July 1, 1988
The Honorable William H. Webster
Director of Central Intelligence
Central Intelligence Agency
Washington, D.C.
Dear Judge Webster:
Enclosed please find a copy of a letter from Senator
William Proxmire regarding information with respect to world
arms transfers. It would be my hope that we could discuss
this matter at our next scheduled meeting.
Thank you for your consideration.
David L. Boren
Chairman
~tlnited *ate,s senate
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WILLIA PROXMIRE
W1SC()#vS(N
N , %
states senate
June 13, 1968
The Honorable David Boren, Chairman
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Louis Stokes, Chairman
House Permanent Select Commmittee
on Intelligence
Washington, D.C. 20515
On June 9, I gave a speech on the Senate floor on the subject
of arms transfers to developing nations. The idea for the speech
grew out of a Memorial Day column in the New York Times by James
Reston in which he cited a report that stated that the world was
engaged in 25 wars in 1987. Most of these conflicts took place
in underdeveloped parts of the world.
In preparation for that speech I sought information detailing
the value of the arms exported to these nations at war and? the
countries that were the main suppliers of these arms. I
consulted the annual Arms Control and Disarmament Agency ~'ACDA)
publication on this issue, titled World Ailitary Expenditures and
Arms Transfers 1987, but I was unable to find this information.
In fact, the most detailed bre'ak~own of nation-to-nation arms
transfers was a table that cumulatively covered the period 1982-
iy86, but it did not even include all the arms exporting nations.
I contacted ACDA to get some answers but much to my surprise,
I was told that this type of detailed information was classified
and unavailable to the public. Consequently, I was forced to use
aggregate figures that detailed the value of the arms transfers
from the communist and non-communist world to various regions of
the world for the ten-year period of 1977-1986.
I question the decision to keep classified this important
information. I propose that the U.S. declassify a list of all
the world's arms exports to countries at war. I believe that
this would provide the basis for negotiations with the Soviets on
limiting or eliminating the export of arms to nations at war. It
also would provide a year- y-year .,urlic record of the or arms
exp,)rt.ing and import t ni nations, and the tyt~('s of arms he nb
t. ansf'ered
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I am interested in the reasons that the U.S. government cites
for keeping this detailed arms transfer information classified.
I would like to see ACDA publish a yearly report citing the
total arms exports of all nations, the recipient nations of
these shipments, and the types of weapons transferred. As
Chairmen of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees, could
you inquire of the administration the justification for
classifying this detailed information on global arms transfers
and relay to me their response?
With best wishes,
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Senate
The Senate met at 930 a-m., on the
expiration of the recess, and was
called to order by the Honorable Joxm
BR *vx. a Senator from the State of
Louisiana.
PRAYER
The Chaplain, the Reverend Rich.
ard C. Halverson, D.D. offered the fol-
lowing prayer.
Let us pray:
Blessed is the nation whose God is
the Lord ? ? ?.-Psalm 33:12.
Eternal God, Just and holy in all
Thy ways, thank You that our Found.
ing Fathers took seriously the words
of the psalmist-that nation is blessed
whose God is the Lord. The profes-
sional athlete calls it fundamentals-
the sociologist calls it roots--but by
whatever name it is indispensable to
self-understanding, self-worth and dig-
nity. self-realization and progress, per-
sonally and collectively. Our Founding
Fathers debated long and hard as to
the relation between church and
state-but whatever their views, they
believed earnestly that virtue and
faith in God were indissoluble. They
crafted our political system in the con-
viction that a Creator God endowed
human rights, which are inalienable-
and to secure which is the mandate of
a government which receives its power
from the consent of the governed.
Help us, Righteous Father, to s, a that
at the heart of present frustration
with imponderable social evil is discon-
nection from our spiritual/moral
roots-that to return to these funda-
merita]s which guided and nurtured
our unprecedented blessing as a nation
is essential to our preservation. Hear
us and awaken us, 0 Lord, our God.
Amen.
APPOINTMENT OF ACTING
PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE
The PRESIDING OFFICER T -.e
clerk will please read a communication
to the Senate from the President pro
tempore (Mr. STENNts].
The legislative clerk read the fo:low-
ing letter.
U S SgNATr-
PRESIDLNT PRO rn-woRT.
lt':;.:n!r.gfon, D. June 3. JJS,Y.
To the Srnale.
L'r;J.?r the pro.!.io:s of rue L st'c;;.n 3,
of the 5'ar,d.ng Ru:rs of the S.?c . I
h. rt'' } a; .^u:rtt the l: ?rustle J?' :'+
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 1983
Suavz., a senator from the State of Louisi-
ana, to perform the duties of the Chair.
JOHN C. STOWLS.
President pro tempore
Mr. BREAUX thereupon assumed
the chair as Acting President pro tem-
pole.
RECOGNITION OF THE
MAJORITY LEADER
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Under the standing order, the
ma;or:ty leader is recognized.
Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I ask
unanimous consent that my time be
reserved until later.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Without objection, it is so or-
dered.
RECOGNITION OF THE
REPUBLICAN LEADER
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Under the standing order the
Republican leader Is now recognized.
Sir. DOLE. I make the same request.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Without objection, It is so or-
dered.
MORNING BUSINESS
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. Under the previous order there
will now be a period of morning busi-
ness not to extend beyond the hour of
10 a.m. with Senators permitted to
speak therein for not to exceed 5 min-
utes each.
'The Chair recognizes the Senator
>}ro isconsin, Mr. PxoxnirRS.
UR MOST DISGRACF?UL FED-
ERAL WASTE: ARMS TO DEVEL-
OPING COUNTRIES
Mr. PROXMIR.E. Mr. President, re-
cently, senior New York Times colum-
nist James Reston observed a chilling
fact. On last Memorial Day, when
many of us were speaking in our home
States about the blessings of peace,
much of the world was engaged in
deadly and heartbreaking wars. How
many wars were going on last year?
Ansa er: 25. That is the report of a
Washi-tkton research Institute called
World Priorities. Reston reports that
ruth Leger SO.vard, who signed the
rt?;)ort. R.sscrts that more wars were
foci-".t in 1987 thr.i in any previous
yyc;.r oa record. Of coarse, practically
all of these 25 wars are still going on.
Already, World Priorities estimates
that 3 million people-45 percent of
them civilians-have died in these
wars. It also estimates that In all the
sags since the end of World War II in
1945, the death total exceeds 17 mil-
lion.
This wholesale and largely senseless
killing has been going on in Latin
America, the Middle East, Africa. and
Asia. The location bf these wars tells
us -something. North America has been
spared this bloodshed. So has Europe.
The killing, the trataaa, the misery of
war has been entirely imposed on the
people of-the underdeveloped world.
But the efficient, deadly weapons to
fight many of these wars came from
the United States and the Soviet
Union. from France and Poland, from
West Germany and Czechoslovakia.
Much of the cost of these weapons was
extracted from the already impover-
ished developing countries and an of
the profits from fabricating these
weapons of death went to developed
countries like the United States and
the Soviet Union.
The huge war casualties measure
only a part of the misery Imposed on
these countries People In these devel-
oping countries are desperate for cap-
Ital. They suffer grossly Inadequate
housing. Many are literally starving.
Most are able to afford only jhe most
rudimentary kind of health care. For
them, war has been especially cruel.
War has taken from these people
much of the pathetically limited re-
sources they so urgently.:. need to,
scra5e a bare living from the soil. Wax
has brought widespread burning of
their homes. It has brought the killing
of their livestock. War has directed
the energies of their youngest and
strongest manpower from oonstructs: e
work to killing equally poor and mtscr-
abte neighbors.
So what can we do about this gr o-
tesque situation? Reston proposes as a
starter that the major nations that
dominate world communications puo-
11sh an annual tally of those who have
been killed in war in the preccC:rg
year. This Is a wise beginning. I pro-
pose that we go further. I propose
that the United States declassify a :a,t
of all the world's arms exports to
countries at war. We should r
tt_i.u along with a record of the r.:.: ~:`..
of human beings killed in cacti .: ...
Ve preceding y ear.
? T-hn ''bullet" syna.H,l wrnt,(ies ,t.r.ca-?,:ti or insrruom whi,h are not fp?ken by a Member of the Sere on the
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S7460 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD-SENATE
On the basis of this kind of data, the
United States would provide the basis
for public and congressional as well as
administration support for negotia-
tions with the Soviet Union and other
major arms exporters to stop export of
arms on all sides. We should strive for
a mutally agreed elimination or limita-
tion on arms exports to countries at
war. Obviously, much of our export
business is based on the fear or suspi-
cion that the warring side we oppose
in Central America or Africa is receiv-
ing heavy arms shipments from the
Soviet Union- Similarly, much of the
Soviet shipment of arms to warring
nations is based on a reciprocal fear
that if they do not get there first, the
United States or other NATO coun-
tries will. Just possibly, with the new
sensitivity in the Soviet Union to the
public advantage in promoting peace,
an intense campaign by this country
could help remove Soviet weapons
from Cuba and Nicaragua as we
remove American weapons from the
Contras. In Angola, we could press for
the evacuation of the 35,000 Cuban
troops now serving there and the mas-
sive Soviet weaponry in return for our
ending the arming of the Angolan
rebel Savimbi.
Mr. President, the cost of the lethal
weapons that have poured into devel-
oping countries to provide the Instru-
ments of death is appalling. In the 10
years from 1977 thru 1986. according
to data provided to me by the State
Department, the United States and
other non-Communist countries have
shipped $140.1 billion in 'eapons into
developing countries! The Soviet
Union and its Communist allies have
pumped in even more, a grim total of
$167.5 billion in weapons of war.
The non-Communist world has pro-
vided in this 10-year period $13.3 bil-
lion In weapons of war to Latin Amer-
ica. with the United States accounting
for a surprisingly small percentage of
that amount-$2.3 billion. Both West
Germany and France provided more
than the United States in the 10 years
from 1977 through 1986. The Commu-
nist nations moved even more weapons
into Latin America than the free
world-providing $14.9 billion worth,
with nearly 90 percent of that, or
$13.2 billion, coming from the Soviet
Union.
In East Asia. the impoverished but
warring developing countries received
$23 billion of war materials from the
non-Communist countries. including
more than two-thirds of that sum
from the United States-a total of
$16.8 billion. The Communist coun-
tries shipped $19.3 billion of wcapons
and ammunition into developing coun-
tries of Fast Asia with more t!,.an 90
percent $18.4 billion, coming from the
Sot let Union.
In Arica, the Ccmmuni:+t coiirtries
re:.lly swamp*'d the ir.thnvenshed war-
ring nations with $44.5 billion of mill
tary weapons, a total of f37.4 billion,
or 80 percent, came from the Soviet
Union. while the free world provided
far less-$17.3 billion of military weap-
ons. A total of $2.2 billion or less than
15 percent came from the United
States.
In that terrible cauldron of death
and violence-the Middle East-the
free world poured almost $77 billion of
military Weapons, of which $28.4 bil-
lion, or about one-third, came from
the United States. The Communist
world shipped $67.9 billion of military
weapons into the violent Middle East
with about 75 percent or $51.2 billion
coming from the Soviet Union.
Mr. President, altogether, this is an
unsurpassed monument to mankind's
revolting stupidity. In the name of
communism and the brotherhood of
the world's workers, the Communist
countries, led by the Soviet Union, are
depressing the ,.living standards of
their own countries by diverting their
limited resources to the 25 or so wars
that bedevil the poorest people on
Earth. And, in the name of freedom,
we are nearly 'matching this disgrace-
ful performance during a fiscal year
crisis that cries out for us to cut all
spending, and certainly, to cut spend-
ing to kill more impoverished people.
Does anyone really believe that this
flood of deadly weapons will truly ad-
vance either brotherhood or freedom?
Mr. President, I ask unanimous con-
sent that the column to which I re-
ferred by James Reston from the New
York Times be printed at this point in
the RECORD.
There being no objection, the article
was ordered to be printed in the
RECORD, as follows:
25 Wafts Aaz Sr-:z Gon o ON
(By James Reston,)
Wi,srtn- c oNC-On -Memorial Day, or, as
the British call it: Remembrance Day, there
were many solemn tributes to the dead of
Past wars. But what we forgot to remember
is that in the real world, beiow the summit
meeting, 25 wars afe stud going on.
That's not A typographical error. 25 is the
number, as tabulated by a W ashL:gton re-
search institute called World Priorities.
Ruth Leger Sivard, who signed the study,
concedes the difficulty of getting an accu-
rate casualty toll in these wars, but she esti-
mates that they have already taken the
lives of three million people, four-fifths of
them civilians.
She also noted the following: "The United
States and the Soviet Union together spend
about $1.5 billion a day on military de-
fense.... The developing countries spend
almost four times as much on arms as on
health care of their people. Yet 20 percent
of their children the before their fifth birth?
day.
She went on: "To protect Kuwait) oil
tankers In the Persian Gulf costs the United
States Navy an extra $365 million a year
atone normal operating coats."
More wars, hlie said, acre fcug:a n
1937
than in an) pnc:cus dear on r: cord
Hrr ratzloi,iue of present wars foL0as
Latin Ar:.erica-Colombia. abet
1 000
deer is a year store 1958. F! Son a,4 r 65 too
drnihi since 1919, C natrmala. 13ri,(,t 0 ;nee
19Ge hicaraxua, 3U.OuO ,foci 1951. aid 1?rru,
10.000 since 198l
The M'ddle Ea:or -I?an Ir%(; 377 C,10 Ines
In Pit ht Sear.. Li ba'.,?.t. 5_0;o ,r,,e 1982.
IT!:e studs dn, s it, t ch c . .. .., .. h(re
June 9, 19~.s
uprisings hate taken fewer than 1,000 U'
a year. as in Israel.)
Africa-Angola and Namibia. 213.000 suirc
1975. In addition, the Angolan war is linke I
to a smaller conflict in which 5.000 people
have been killed in the south West Africa
People's Organization fight to expel South
African troops from Namtba: Chad. 7,000
since 1980: Ethiopia. 500.000 by war and re-
lated famine since 1980: Western Sahara.
10,000 since 1975: Mozambique, 400,000
since 1981 (pl?ls 850,000 more refugees).
Also In Africa-South Africa. 4.000 since
1985: the Sudan, 10,000 since 1964, and
Uganda, 102,000 since 1981.
Asia-Afghanistan. 14,000 Soltict troor s
and 85,000 Afghans since 1979: Burma. 2.0!0
since 1985; separatist violence in India. 5,000
since 1964: Indonesia (there are no reliat!e
estimates in the fighting over East Timcr ):
Cambodia. 24.000 since 1979; Laos and Vitt-
narn, 30.000 since 1979: the Philippine-.
60.000 since 1970, and Sri Lanka, 6.000 since
1984.
This study estimates that over all. since
the end of World War II in 1945, the death
total in all wars, rebellions and uprisi gs of
various sorts have taken the lives of 17 rail.
lion people, about half the deaths of the
last aorid conflict.
The Economist of London, commenting on
this study, notes that, outside the Pcrs.:n
Gulf war, all wars between nations have dis-
appeared. The magazine also notes progress
in the present evacuation of Soviet troops
from Afghanistan and the United Ststes-
Soviet efforts to reduce atomic weapons.
The World Priorities study said: "Present
nuclear arsenals, scattered worldwide. atone
represent over 26,000 times the explose e
force of all armaments used in World War
But there are other problems. Many of
the present wa--s are fueled by the United
States, the Soviet Union and other irduste:-
a] nations, and the technology to produce
nuclear weapons continues to spread.
Also, the news of the present wars is lirr-::-
ed by indifference, censorship, as in the
Iraq-Iran conflict, and unwillingness on tr.e
part of the major governments to sha-e
what Information they have on these u
with the public.
To a large extent,' there fore. these are
"the forgotten '. wars," - neglected even b:.
those countries that preach the precious
value of every human life.
Much was said at the Reagan-GorbachF
summit conference in Moscow about avoid
trig future nuclear wars, but litter if any-
thing about trying to end present war_.
fought with everything from clubs arc
stones to poison gas. Or even about reducrni
the flow of military weapons to the combo'-
ants.
At least, the major nations that dortins:.e
the communications of the world could puo
lisp an annual tally of the world's dead.
As it is now, if a war is not on tehvis;Lei
it's not happening.
Mr. PROXMIRE. Mr. President. I
suggest the absence of a quorum ar.c
yield the floor.
The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem-
pore. The clerk will call the roll.
The iegisiative clerk proceeded t,
ca_l :he roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I
unanimous core'?nt that the orde r I.
tI.e Q.rortnn call be rescinded.
Tile ACTING PIIFSIDEN'T pro t,
pore 'Nit`lout objection, it Is so
cb red.
The C!iair revogniZU3 the St-11,0'
freer..`:, tada, St:,:'tor Rain.
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