[Defense Issues-Memos - May 1991]

Files in this series were created from 1989 through 1994, with a few files dating back to 1980. Material types include memos, briefing books, reports of the Democratic Policy Committee, press clippings, drafts of legislation, and correspondence. Subjects concern world-wide nuclear testing, human rights, especially in relation to policies towards China following the massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1990, Persian Gulf policy in the period following the war in 1991, policies on terrorism, U.S.-Soviet relations between 1989 and 1994, Israeli-PLO negotiations in 1994, aid to eastern European countries, and military appropriations and the defense budget. The war in Bosnia is discussed in some detail, including the massacre in Sarajevo of 1994, as is Desert Storm.There are also substantial fiels concerning the expected closure of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.

Several bills are mentioned, including, S.1582 - Support for East European Democracy (SEED) Act of 1989, H.R.3385 - Assistance for Free and Fair Elections in Nicaragua Act of 1989, and H.R.2712 - Emergency Chinese Immigration Relief Act. Other material deals with the War Powers Amendment Act. Briefing books in this series detail official trips abroad and meetings with foreign dignitaries. Many files also deal with the Senate Intelligence Committee, of which Mitchell was an ex-officio member due to his status as Majority Leader. The files concerning the Senate Intelligence Committee were created and maintained by Richard Arenberg. The majority of the remaining records in the series were created by Brett O'Brien, with other files concerning foreign affairs created by Scott Harris, Edward King, Michael Ceurvorst, Leah Titerence, John Arndt, and Carol Grigsby.