UGUSTA, Ga. - George W. Bush said yesterday he welcomed the arms control agreements signed by President Clinton and Russian President Vladimir Putin - in part because they won't tie the next US president's hands on issues like missile defense.
During their weekend summit, the two leaders were unable to resolve differences over Clinton's proposal for a missile defense system. Implementation of such a system would require changes in the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Both Republican Bush and Al Gore, his presumptive Democratic presidential opponent, separately reiterated that they would scrap the treaty if Moscow doesn't eventually go along. That is essentially the current administration view, although Clinton and Gore see such a move as a last resort.
Bush welcomed the Clinton-Putin agreements reached over the weekend in which Russia and the United States will reduce stockpiles of weapons-grade plutonium and establish an early warning center in Moscow to exchange information on the launching of ballistic missiles.
''I thought that was OK, that was fine,'' Bush told reporters after delivering a D-Day commemorative speech on the banks of the Savannah River. ''That does not necessarily tie a future president's hands.''
But he said the United States should forge ahead with developing a missile defense that would be more robust than the limited system the administration is considering - with or without Moscow's approval.
''We've got to be able to have a missile defense system that adequately addresses the new threats facing America,'' Bush said. ''That's why we need to have the treaty fully amended or withdraw from the treaty.''
Earlier, Vice President Gore said he might be willing to pull out of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty if Russia doesn't eventually agree to amendments that would allow a limited missile defense umbrella.
In Georgia, on the 56th anniversary of D-Day, Bush proposed a more responsive Veterans Affairs system, a national memorial in Washington, and a rebuilt military aimed at improving morale.
The Texas governor, whose father, former President Bush, was a Navy pilot in World War II, also paid tribute to the 6,600 Americans killed in the Normandy landings and to those who survived.
