1999
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-029
BY SENATORS Andrews, Congrove, Dyer, Epps, Evans, Hillman, Lamborn, Musgrave, Owen, Powers, Tebedo, and Teck;
also REPRESENTATIVES Sinclair, Lee, Dean, Decker,
Fairbank, Gotlieb, Hoppe, Johnson, Kester, Larson, May, McElhany,
McKay, McPherson, Miller, Nunez, Paschall, Scott, Swenson, Webster,
T. Williams, Witwer, Hefley, Kaufman, Mitchell, Pfiffner, Stengel,
and Taylor.
CONCERNING NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE.
WHEREAS, Colorado is the thirtyeighth state
to enter the federal union of the United States of America and
is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and obligations that
the union affords and requires, including the obligation of the
federal government to provide for the common defense; and
WHEREAS, The federal government has not provided
for the common defense of the United States, including Colorado,
against attack by longrange ballistic missiles; and
WHEREAS, The United States currently has no defense
against longrange ballistic missiles despite possessing
sophisticated military installations, such as the NORAD command
center in Cheyenne Mountain; and
WHEREAS, The people of Colorado recognize the evolution
and proliferation of missile delivery systems and weapons of mass
destruction, including nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons,
in foreign states such as North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, China,
and Russia who are sharing ballistic missile and nuclear weapons
technology among themselves; and
WHEREAS, There is a growing threat to the United
States and its territories, deployed forces, and allies by aggressors
in foreign states and rogue nations that are seeking chemical,
biological, and nuclear weapons capability and a means to deliver
such capability using longrange ballistic missiles; and
WHEREAS, On August 31, 1998, without any advanced
detection by the U.S. intelligence community and to the surprise
of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, communist North
Korea tested its Taepo Dong 1 LongRange Ballistic Missile;
and
WHEREAS, With its estimated range of 3,000 to 6,000
miles, this type of threestage ballistic missile is capable
of reaching the United States, and, if used as a fractional orbital
bombardment system, the missile has an unlimited range; and
WHEREAS, In 1996, communist China threatened the
United States with ballistic missile attack if it intervened in
the dispute between China and Taiwan and, in 1995 and 1996, communist
China launched ballistic missiles near Taiwan to threaten that
country; and
WHEREAS, China has conducted at least fortyfive
nuclear tests, and in 1998 the Central Intelligence Agency reported
that thirteen of China's eighteen longrange missiles were
targeted at U.S. cities; and
WHEREAS, In addition to the longrange ballistic
missiles it currently possesses, China is also building new longrange
ballistic missiles; and
WHEREAS, In 1993, in response to its economic difficulties
and decline in conventional military capability, Russia's leaders
issued a national security policy placing greater reliance on
nuclear deterrence; and
WHEREAS, Russia still has over 20,000 nuclear weapons,
and the risk of an accident or loss of control over Russian ballistic
missile forces could occur with little or no warning to the U.S.;
and
WHEREAS, Russia poses a risk to the United States
as a major exporter of ballistic missile technology, enabling
countries hostile to the United States to threaten or attack the
United States with ballistic missiles; and
WHEREAS, The congressionally chartered Commission
to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States led
by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld unanimously recommended
that the U.S. analyses, practices, and policies that depend on
expectations of extended warning of deployment of ballistic missiles
be reviewed and, as appropriate, be revised to reflect the reality
of an environment in which there may be little or no warning of
development and launch of said missiles; and
WHEREAS, In March 1999 the United States Congress
passed legislation declaring it the policy of the United States
to deploy a national missile defense, in recognition of the threats
we face; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixtysecond
General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives
concurring herein:
That the President, Congress, and the government
of the United States are hereby strongly urged:
(1) To take all actions necessary to provide
for the common defense and protect on an equal basis all people,
resources, and states of the United States from the threat of
missile attack, regardless of the physical location of each state
of the union;
(2) To include all fifty states in every
National Intelligence Estimate of missile threat of the United
States;
(3) To take all necessary measures to
ensure that all fifty states are protected from weapons delivered
by longrange ballistic missiles or by means of terrorists;
(4) To make the safety and common defense
of all fifty states a priority over any international treaty or
obligation;
(5) (a) To deploy a common defense
against longrange ballistic missiles capable of providing
multiple opportunities to intercept a ballistic missile or intercepting
a ballistic missile in its boost phase (its most vulnerable position);
(b) To deploy a defense fully exploiting
the advantages of using defenses in space; and
(c) To deploy such a defense using accelerated
funding and streamlined acquisition procedures to minimize the
time for deployment; and
(6) To hold appropriate Congressional
committee hearings that include the testimony of defense experts
and administration officials to enable the citizens of the United
States to understand the nature and extent of their vulnerability
to ballistic missile attack and their level of security against
such an attack.
Be it further resolved,
That copies of this Resolution be sent to the President of the
United States; the Vicepresident of the United States; the
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; the chairmen
of the Appropriations committees of the United States House of
Representatives and the United States Senate; the chairmen of
the Armed Services committees of the United States House of Representatives
and the United States Senate; and each member of the Colorado
Congressional delegation.
_________________________ _________________________
Ray Powers Russell George
PRESIDENT OF SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES
_________________________ _________________________
Patricia K. Dicks Judith M. Rodrigue
SECRETARY OF CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
THE SENATE OF REPRESENTATIVES