Congress has banned such tests since 1985.

Despite its protest, the Bush administration has long resisted a global treaty banning such tests because it says it needs freedom of action in space.

One option would be to ban tests for all races.

The European Commission recently voted to ban tests of cosmetics on animals by 1998, but only if alternatives exist.

We are going to ratify a treaty banning nuclear tests.

True, banning tests won't guarantee that proliferation can be prevented.

The treaty rejected tonight was to have been the capstone of arms control efforts, banning even nuclear tests conducted underground.

After this brush with nuclear war, the two leaders banned nuclear tests in the air and underwater after 1962.

But an effort to persuade both countries to sign a treaty banning nuclear tests has lost momentum recently.

The administration needs to reverse course promptly and join in talks aimed at banning further tests or use of antisatellite weapons.