Rohrabacher Amendment Will Cut Aid If Russia Provides Naval Missiles To China

Rohrabacher Amendment Will Cut Aid If Russia Provides Naval Missiles To China

U.S. Veteran Dispatch Staff Report
June/July/August 1997

Washington, DC... On June 12, the House of Representatives voted to cut off U.S. foreign aid to Russia if the Russian Federation completes a deal to sell supersonic SS-N-22 anti-ship cruise missiles to China. The amendment to the 1998 State Department authorization bill, authored by Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), was passed by a vote of 244 - 184. The unprecedented amendment is the first act by the U.S. Congress to condition U.S. aid to Russia to their growing military support of China's massive military modernization program.

"It is time for the U.S. Congress to put Russia and other governments on notice," said Congressman Rohrabacher. If you make or transfer weapons to kill Americans, don't expect American foreign aid. It was time draw the line. That particular missile was designed to destroy American ships and kill American sailors. We must not take lightly that such a weapon is being transferred to a potential enemy."

The SS-N-22 missile, known as the "Sunburn," is the most lethal naval surface missile in the Russian arsenal. It is specifically designed to destroy U.S. warships and aircraft carriers using advanced Aegis radar systems. Fired from ship or land, the missile skims above the sea at supersonic speeds with a radar profile that is extremely difficult to defend against. The Chinese began seeking this missile as a direct response to the deployment of a U.S. naval force to the Straits of Taiwan during communist China's attempts to militarily intimidate Taiwanese national elections. A secret weapons sale was completed in Moscow in December 1996 during a state visit by Chinese Prime Minister Li Peng.
"The immediate impact of China acquiring this missile system," said Rohrabacher assistant Al Santoli, "is the advantage China will have over other navies in the region. This is especially important in China's efforts to claim the oil-rich Spratly Islands and to bully Taiwan. The long term impact, combined with the large number of American super computers that China has purchased during the Clinton Administration, is China's ability to reverse engineer SS-N-22 technology to develop lethal parity with the U.S. navy.

Another immediate threat is the transfer of the missile system by China to Iran. An SS-N-22 mounted on a mobile land platform would wreak havoc on shipping in the Straits of Hormuz. The missile also threatens a U.S.-Japan naval-based theater anti-missile defense (THAD) program which is based on the Aegis technology."

- If the Rohrabacher Amendment becomes law, it would cut off $95 million in U.S. foreign aid to Russia in both 1998 and 1999. The provision was strenuously opposed by the Clinton Administration and senior Republicans on the International Relations Committee. The amendment was passed by a coalition of conservative Republicans concerned about the China/Russia/Iran alliance led by Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-NY) and liberal democrats opposed to missile proliferation, including Cynthia McKinney (D-GA).

In another section of the 1998 State Department authorization bill, Rohrabacher and McKinney co-sponsored a separate amendment that would give Congress a role in evaluating U.S. arms sales to non-democratic governments.

The SS-N-22 sale was part of an estimate $8 billion arms package that China has purchased from Russia. In addition, in recent months the Chinese have purchased high performance fighter aircraft, submarines, two guided-missile destroyer ships and the "Varyag" aircraft carrier which was 70 percent completed when the Soviet Union collapsed. These purchases are key components in China's rapid development of a blue water navy, which is being financed, in large part, by China's $40 billion annual trade surplus with the United States.

In order for the Rohrabacher amendment to become law, a similar amendment must be introduced in the Senate with language that does not permit a Presidential waiver. If House and Senate amendments differ, the provision will be decided in the House/Senate Foreign Relations conference.

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