Meanwhile critics in Congress argued that a missile with 10 warheads posed too tempting a target.
He said no attempt would be made to recover them because the water was quite deep and the missiles "pose no risk."
Opponents of the sale said they feared the missiles could pose a threat to Israel's security.
Technical means could be engineered to provide frequent checks that nuclear missiles posed no immediate threat.
Long-range missiles now being developed by North Korea, Iraq and Iran pose a legitimate security concern.
Those missiles pose a particular threat to West Germany, France and parts of Britain.
These missiles never posed a threat to the public and because of that, they were shipped differently than we would ship armed missiles.
Such missiles can be fired by one person, are favored by terrorists and pose a threat to military and commercial aircraft.
The short-range missiles, those with a range of less than 300 miles, pose a different problem.
Mr. Chen said the missiles posed just such a threat.