11.   Raytheon, maker of the Patriot defensive missile, has long been a manufacturer of antimissile systems.

12.   Russia has denounced the plan in the past, and Canada has made clear it views the antimissile system with deep suspicion.

13.   Still, there seems little doubt that the dispute over an antimissile system will escalate sharply in coming months.

14.   The bill does not authorize the construction of the antimissile system nor does it appropriate any money for it.

15.   The group believes that an antimissile system could ruin nuclear-deterrence policies.

16.   The Pentagon has not said which of three antimissile systems now under consideration will ultimately be deployed.

17.   The second element of the Russian plan would use theater antimissile systems to protect Europe.

18.   Another unsettled question is whether the Pentagon should go ahead with the next flight test of the antimissile system as scheduled this fall.

19.   As a practical matter, the antimissile system as currently designed could protect much of Canada as well as the United States.

20.   Russian visits to American early warning radar stations and, perhaps, access to their data and joint computer simulations of antimissile systems were among other proposals.