Appropriations Bill Includes Leahy-Feinstein Provision to Restrict the Sale or Transfer of Cluster Bombs

June 29, 2007 -- Washington, DC – The Fiscal Year 2008 State-Foreign Operations Appropriations bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee includes a measure, sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), that would restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs.

Senator Leahy serves as the Chairman of the State-Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee, and Senator Feinstein is also a leading member of the Appropriations Committee. The legislation – the annual funding bill for the State Department and for U.S. foreign aid and foreign operations – was approved by the panel on June 28 and heads next to the full Senate for debate and votes.

Specifically, the bill requires that no military funds will be used for the sale or transfer or cluster bombs, unless:

* The cluster bombs have a failure rate of 1 percent or less.
* The sale or transfer agreement specifies that the cluster bombs will be used only against clearly defined military targets and not where civilians are known to be present.

“There are compelling reasons and there is rising urgency to protect innocent civilians when and where these weapons are used,” said Senator Leahy. “We live in an era in which innocent civilians increasingly are made the victims of war. When we have the chance to slow that trend, we should take it. I am gratified that Congress is beginning to take the lead in setting these appropriate standards. This is a sensible and workable step to set a high reliability standard for cluster munitions that are transferred or sold, and to keep them from being used among civilians. This will reduce the threat to innocent people by outdated weapons that have too often been used in ways that cause terrible civilian casualties. It is our hope that the Administration will support this approach, which would then encourage other nations to follow our example.”

“Cluster bombs were originally designed for attacking large-scale enemy formations – but they have instead become a lethal threat to civilians. The volatile remnants of millions of unexploded cluster bombs have had a deadly impact on civilian populations around the world – from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Middle East. I believe that the time has come for the United States to implement a new policy to ensure that civilians are no longer needlessly endangered by these de facto landmines,” Senator Feinstein said. “That’s why it’s so important that the Senate Appropriations Committee has approved a measure that would restrict the sale or transfer of cluster bombs and help to minimize the threat to civilians.”

Currently, the arsenal of the U.S. military contains 5.5 million cluster bombs – or 728 million bomblets – many of which have a failure rate of 1 percent or higher.

Background

Cluster bombs are designed to come apart in the air before making contact, dispersing between 200 and 400 small bomblets that can saturate a wide radius of 250 yards. They are intended for military use when attacking large-scale enemy troop formations. However, in practice, cluster bombs have increasingly been used in or near populated areas.

Handicap International studied the effects of cluster bombs in 24 countries and regions, including Afghanistan, Chechnya, Laos, and Lebanon. Its report found that civilians make up 98 percent of those killed or injured by cluster bombs. Children account for 27 percent of the casualties.

The senators said the civilian toll has been staggering:

* Combining the first and second Gulf Wars, the total number of unexploded bomblets in the region is approximately 1.2 million. An estimated 1,220 Kuwaitis and 400 Iraqi civilians have been killed since 1991.
* In Iraq in 2003, 13,000 cluster bombs with nearly 2 million bomblets were used.
* In Afghanistan in 2001, 1,228 cluster bombs with 248,056 bomblets were used. Between October 2001 and November 2002, 127 civilians were killed, 70 percent of them under the age of 18.
* Between nine and 27 million unexploded cluster bombs remain in Laos from U.S. bombing campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s. Approximately 11,000 people, 30 percent of them children, have been killed or injured since the war ended.
* Most recently, it is estimated that Israel dropped 4 million bomblets in southern Lebanon, and 1 million of these bomblets failed to explode. And reports indicate that Hezbollah retaliated with cluster bomb strikes of their own.

Source: Senator Dianne Feinstein