Legislative Background
Recent Congressional and Executive Action on Missile Defense
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Iraq’s use of Scud missiles in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, and the proliferation of ballistic missile technologies, many in Congress have expressed strong support for deploying a ballistic missile defense system to protect the United States from attack. Two events in 1998 served to amplify those concerns. First, a congressionally mandated panel chaired by then former Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld (who now serves as Defense Secretary again under the Bush Administration) concluded that nations seeking to develop long-range ballistic missiles might be able to do so within five…
