07 July 2000 White House Q & A on July 7 Missile Test Following is the White House's response to questions taken at the July 7 daily briefing on tonight's testing of the proposed missile defense system: The White House Office of the Press Secretary July 7, 2000 Press Briefing by Jake Siewert and PJ Crowley The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room 10:08 A.M. EDT Taken Question From 07-07 Daily Briefing Q: On tonight's missile test, granted Secretary Cohen is not going to make his recommendation for a matter of weeks, I guess, but is it inconceivable that the President would not make his recommendation on whether or not to go ahead with construction of the missile defense until after the November election? Mr. Crowley: We have a process in place, and once this test occurs it will take several days for the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization to assess the results of this test. It's very complex. There are a lot of elements to national missile defense, including both the ability to detect it, the command control communications, the kill vehicle -- the decision-making process that allows you to effectively engage an incoming missile and potentially destroy it. So this is a very complex test, it's a very complex process. And so it will take some time for the Pentagon to assess the results of this test. That will feed into Secretary Cohen's recommendation to the President once the Pentagon finishes what they call deployment readiness review. So I think this will be a process that unfolds over the next several weeks at a minimum. Q: But is it fair to say that even if the test isn't successful, we might go ahead and build the system anyway? Mr. Crowley: I think there will be a great temptation to do some instantaneous analysis after the test tonight. I would say a hit doesn't automatically suggest success, nor does a failure automatically come with a miss tonight. So I think everyone needs to understand that this is going to be a process that unfolds over many weeks, both in terms of analyzing what tonight's test shows, how that feeds into the Pentagon's recommendation to the President. And again the President will make his decision later this year based on the four criteria that we've enunciated before. Q: Once again, could later this year be on the other side of the election in November? Mr. Crowley: The election is not a factor in the President's decision-making process. Q: Granted, but could it be on the other side? Mr. Crowley: Wendell, there's no date in the wall, so early November -- what is driving this process is the need to potentially, depending on the President's decision, begin the process so that construction can begin -- next year. So that is why it has to be done sometime this year. But there's no arbitrary date that says it has to be done by this particular date. Q: PJ, what constitutes success, though, for this mission? Mr. Crowley: This is a test, and this is one of 16 integrated flight tests that the Pentagon has scheduled as part of this development program. So I'm sure that politically, those who are in favor of national defense will find something tonight that supports their argument; those who are opposed to national defense will do the same. The President ultimately will make his best judgment later this year, based on his advisors providing him the best possible perspective regarding threat, cost, technical feasibility and the overall impact on our national security. So, ultimately, the President is going to pass is judgment on deployment based on what is right. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov) Return to the Washington File