FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, February 27, 2004

STATEMENT BY U.S. REPRESENTATIVE JAMES P. McGOVERN (MA) ON BUSH ADMINISTRATION LANDMINE POLICY

I am deeply disappointed by President Bush's announcement on landmines that reverses so many of the positive steps theU.S.has made over the past decade.  This new policy is completely out-of-step with the global movement toward eliminating these awful weapons. 

I am shocked that the Bush Administration has decided to use so-called self-destructing mines indefinitely andwithout any restrictions.  34 percent of injuries and 6 percent of deaths ofU.S.military personnel in Operation Desert Storm were due to these so-called "smart" mine systems.  In the real world, mobility is the key to success on the modern battlefield, and shifting fronts and battle lines mean that fleeing civilians and our own uniformed military are often crossing into territory where we will have deployed our so-called "smart" mine systems just hours before.  Further, according to the General Accounting Office (GAO), the dud rate for these "smart" mine systems is considerably greater than Pentagon reporting indicates.
 

Finally, I am angry that the Bush Administration has chosen to invent terminology to describe this policy - such as "persistent" mines - in order to hide the ugly facts:  President Bush has decided to abandon the U.S. commitment to identify and develop alternatives to landmines by 2006; the U.S. will continue using "dumb" mines until 2010; it will continue to develop, stockpile and use so-called "smart" antipersonnel, anti-tank and mixed mine systems - all of which employ anti-personnel landmines; and it is not developing man-in-the-loop technology that allows officers in the field to destroy U.S. deployed landmines at their command in order to protect the lives of U.S. or allied troops or those of civilians.

The Bush Administration should be searching for ways to re-establish credibility and goodwill with the world community.  Backtracking on the elimination of landmines sends exactly the wrong message.   

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