Statement of Senator Levin on President Bush's Decision to Field Missile Defenses by 2004

WASHINGTON – Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released this statement today on President Bush's decision to deploy missile defense systems by 2004.

"President Bush's announcement today that he plans to deploy missile defense systems starting in 2004 violates common sense by determining to deploy systems before they have been tested and shown to work.

"This deployment will do little to increase our national security. With the exception of the Patriot system, which has been tested against theater ballistic missiles, the systems to be fielded will lack important components required for an effective defense. Neither the interceptor nor the radar to be used with the new national missile defense system have ever been tested against any ballistic missile target at all. Under the normal acquisition process for all weapons programs, we have insisted, until now, that systems be tested and demonstrated to be operationally effective before a deployment decision is made."