Political Quotes

“Let me begin by saying that I send this amendment to the desk with an understanding of the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and of the Armed Services Committee that before I would request a vote on this amendment, we would work out the language, the specific language of this amendment, along with the ranking members, and would not ask for a vote unless that is achieved. This amendment has been offered not only for myself, but also Senators Lieberman, Inhofe, Risch, Lugar, Sessions, DeMint, Cornyn, Rubio, Wicker, Ayotte, and Collins. Our purpose is to get a greater involvement at an earlier stage of the Senate in discussions between the United States and the Russian Federation regarding nuclear arms, missile defense, and potentially long-range conventional strike systems. These are all three matters that have been the subject of treaties and agreements. There has been an indication by different people within the administration, indeed even the President, that he may be wanting to talk to the Russian Federation representatives about additional agreements in these areas. There have been concerns that the Congress is not adequately briefed on those discussions and certainly not at an early enough date. Clearly, if these agreements reach a formal stage, they can require ratification by the Senate.…”