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Updated April 2006
Kazakhstan Profile: Full-Text Documents
Statement on the Work of the Defense Committee of the U.S.-Kazakhstan Joint Commission
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THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Vice President
For Immediate Release November 18, 1997
U.S.-KAZAKHSTAN JOINT COMMISSION
Defense Committee
Vice President Al Gore welcomes the Defense Committee's ongoing efforts to develop and expand bilateral defense and security relations between the United States and Kazakhstan. These ties, in areas ranging from military education and training to defense conversion programs, serve to highlight the broad U.S. defense engagement with Kazakhstan.
The Vice President notes with satisfaction the continued progress made by the U.S. and Kazakhstan in Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs. $134 million has been spent on CTR activities in Kazakhstan, which has resulted in considerable progress in areas such as ICBM silo dismantlement and nuclear test tunnel closures. Extension of the emergency response agreement will further assist efforts to maintain secure control of non-weapons nuclear material. Our joint efforts in CTR funded defense conversion also have reaped significant benefits.
The Vice President draws attention to the increasing importance the U.S. is placing on our Warsaw Initiative/Foreign Military Financing programs in Kazakhstan. These funds will enable the Kazakhstani military to operate with NATO members, enhance their participation in Partnership for Peace (PEP) activities, and develop increased capability and readiness to contribute to peacekeeping activities under UN and OSCE auspices. The Vice President recognizes the important role the recent Central Asian Peacekeeping Battalion exercise (CENTRASBAT '97), cohosted by Kazakhstan, played in this area.
The Vice President welcomes the initiation of the joint DOD/FBI Counterproliferation program in Kazakhstan. Together our two countries have made great strides in countering the threat posed by the spread of weapons of mass destruction. Kazakhstan's participation in joint training programs will help further develop its enforcement mechanisms and establish a strong bureaucratic and legal framework in that country. The planned joint DOD/Customs program will provide similar benefits as well.
The Vice President welcomes the Seismic Monitoring Agreement as a clear indication of Kazakhstan's desire to support its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This agreement provides for the establishment and operation of a seismic monitoring station which will provide data directly to the International Data Center in Vienna.
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