Cannon backs nuclear weapons tests in Nevada

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Congressman says: He believes his father died of cancers caused in part by exposure to radioactive fallout from Cold War-era tests

By Robert Gehrke | The Salt Lake Tribune, March 9, 2005
Excerpt

WASHINGTON - Rep. Chris Cannon is voicing his support for resumed testing of nuclear weapons as a deterrent against people who want to harm the United States.

"To the degree that we have people blow up our skyscrapers and hiding underground we have to have the ability to respond to them," Cannon said Tuesday. "I don't ever expect we'll end up using a bunker buster, but the other side needs to know that we have them."

The tests, Cannon said Tuesday, should not be limited to a bunker busting nuclear weapon, which the Bush administration has proposed spending $8.5 million to study, although Congress rejected past requests. The testing should also include the existing nuclear stockpile to ensure the weapons have not deteriorated, he said.

"What we really want here is deterrence. We want people to get out of their holes and into the democratic process and we want to scare them out," he said. "We need to give them the fear of destruction and hopefully over time people will recognize that the democratic system works."

The testing does not necessarily begin immediately, Cannon said, but the president should have the authority to resume testing if he deems it appropriate.

The issue of nuclear weapons testing is a sensitive one in Utah, where Cold War-era weapons testing in the Nevada desert rained radiation down on unwitting residents. Years later, thousands of "downwinders" were stricken with various forms of cancer.

"We've been A-bombed, nerve-gassed and lied to enough," said J. Preston Truman of the group Downwinders. "You can't have it both ways. You can't say you are going to take care of your constituents and on the other hand say it's OK to come and bomb us again."