Jon Kyl: “Finally, Madam President, there has been much made of the fact that in the negotiations over this treaty, numerous…”

“Finally, Madam President, there has been much made of the fact that in the negotiations over this treaty, numerous improvements were made and, therefore, we should remove our objections and go along with the treaty. First of all, I want to set the stage. Last fall when the treaty came before the Senate, the statement was that we couldn't touch it, that we couldn't negotiate anything, we had to use the resolution that came out of the committee and there were no changes that were possible; 'You can't change the treaty; we're not interested in negotiating any terms.' It turned out there was not sufficient support for the treaty and, therefore, the administration had it pulled. Interestingly enough, last night I saw a news program, the Jim Lehrer News Hour, in which it was misstated that Senator Dole, the previous majority leader, asked the treaty to be withdrawn. He did not ask the treaty to be withdrawn. He was not even in the Senate at the time. He wrote a letter in opposition to the treaty, but he did not ask it be withdrawn. He just said he wouldn't vote for it if it were still in the Senate. It was withdrawn by the administration, by the Clinton administration, not by anyone here in the Senate. Notwithstanding the fact that the administration took the position that nothing could change, once the treaty was found not to have adequate support, the administration began to change its tune, and little by little, they began to sit down and talk to those who had objections.”