Missile Defense Tests Delayed By Carlean Ponder In October, after Presidents Bush and Putin met in Shanghai, China, the Bush administration announced it would delay missile defense tests planned for this fall. Putin commented that they had obtained an “understanding that we can reach agreements.” During their November meeting in Crawford, TX, Presidents Bush and Putin both agreed to unprecedented reductions. The US and Russia will cut their nuclear arsenals by roughly two-thirds over the next decade, leaving each with fewer than 2,200 warheads. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in-troduced S.1565, a bill that prohibits uni-lateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. The bill has five original co-sponsors. WAND encourages you to ask your senators to sign onto this bill as additional co-sponsors. (Capitol switchboard: 202-224-3121) In less favorable news, Senate Armed Services Committee chair, Carl Levin (D-MI), withdrew his national missile defense from the Defense Authorization Act, to avoid a partisan fight in the wake of September 11th. Senator Levin also withdrew a provision requiring a vote of Congress to fund activities that could violate the ABM treaty. This provision has been introduced as a separate bill, S.1439. Return to index