Statement in Main Committee One
Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
Statement by Ambassador Laura Kennedy
U.S. Permanent Representative to the CD
May 12, 2010
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for allowing me to take the floor to offer a tribute to a former colleague and predecessor at the Conference on Disarmament, Ambassador Steve Ledogar, who lost his battle to cancer last week. I suspect that many in this hall, at least the older generation like myself, may have had the opportunity to work with this great arms control and nonproliferation champion. Ambassador Ledogar participated in the 1995 Review Conference that agreed to indefinitely extend this crucial treaty which has gathered 189 nations together. He compiled an extraordinary record leading the US delegations to the successful treaty negotiations on the Conventional Forces in Europe, the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban. The ratification of the CTBT is a top priority of my government and, in my opinion, will also be a fitting tribute to this outstanding diplomat.