I think that makes a very important point. The whole point of what we are arguing is that the Russians would like to put whatever pressure they can on the United States not to deliver--excuse me--not to deploy missile defenses that could…

Yes, that took a lot of my time, working on the Omnibus appropriations bill. As the Senator knows, when, 2 days ago, we began debate on the START treaty, there was an assumption that I would speak immediately--on the first evening, I said…

If we were developing a system which the Russians say will bother them because we could use that against them, and they want us to change it in some way, my best guess is that he will be inclined to change it, even though he wrote a letter…

The majority leader pulled it down in order to reach an agreement with the Republican side on a much slimmed down version, a continuing resolution.

Mr. President, we don't have time to get into a lot of detail, but there is the question of verification. This is one of the other major matters people have written about, including Senator Bond, who is the ranking Republican on the…

I am not questioning the President's sincerity or his honesty or his current intentions. But nobody can predict the future. President Obama is smart, but he can't predict out into the future the kinds of things that could be implicated as…

If the Senator will yield briefly, I ask to speak for just 60 seconds. I want to make it clear that I don't think anybody on this side holds Senator Kerry accountable for the fact that this is a confusing and back-and-forth kind of debate…

That is my point exactly. If it is no more than that, I cannot imagine that it would be a treaty killer for the Russians unless there was something else afoot. And that something else--they deem it very important. Why? This is the legal…

the answer to the question is, if the Senate, which is supposed to provide its advice and consent--in other words, it is the other half of the equation to the Presidency, and if we are not to be a rubberstamp, and presumably we can take…

I think the answer is, first of all, that I don't think at this moment in time he can clarify it in that regard because he can't predict what concerns the Russians will bring to him and what his response at that point will need to be.

in a technical legal sense, I believe that is the way it is interpreted. I might also make another point, just to correct something--and we can have this debate later if you want to-- but it is not true that no changes qualitatively or…

And in an effort to prod the people in those negotiations to put their ideas on the table so we could complete work on the tax negotiations, I said: Given the schedule that the leader had announced--the desire to leave Washington this…

I think that will be probably further debated in connection with the first amendment that is likely to be offered. So let me turn to another matter that is of great concern to some of us and I think will require some resolution, either in…

Any lawyer--and we are both lawyers here--knows that if you have an ambiguity in a contract, you are asking for trouble. You are asking for litigation or dispute down the road. It may not be all that important between two parties or two…

that is the point I am making, and in contrast to the START I negotiations, where when the Russians said essentially something very similar to this, we pushed back and said: No, you are wrong, that would not be an appropriate reason to…

I hope my colleague is not suggesting that, under no circumstances, should the Senate ever change a treaty so that the other party to the treaty would have to, in effect--well, the Senate would never be able to change a treaty. Put it that…

I could not agree more with my colleague from Arizona. There have been rumors swirling around here for 3 weeks--for example, when the tax legislation was being negotiated--that somehow or other there was some deal in the works to trade the…

I plan to speak for about an hour for the benefit of scheduling, although I will only scratch the surface of what I will have to say about this treaty. Let me begin by talking about 14 or 15 specific things I intend to cover at some point…

Part of the business of the Senate on the treaty is to expose its flaws and to have a robust debate about those flaws, which can provide the foundation for amendments which we intend to offer. I was struck by the seriousness and…

I do think it is an imposition on our families and our staff that we need to be working during this period of time. I do not think there is anybody in this body who works any harder than I do. I do not claim to be the hardest working, but…

Let me try to sum up what I am saying about missile defense, although there is much more to talk about, and this will very definitely be the subject of maybe even the first amendment that is offered on our side because there has been such…

first of all, this is the kind of engagement we need on this treaty and on so many other issues in this body. Too many times it is a Senator coming down and giving a speech, and half of us or more are not listening. And this kind of…

I join Senator McConnell in a tribute to my friend and colleague, Jim Bunning. Jim and I came into the House of Representatives at the same time as parts of the 100th class. I have enjoyed being with him as well in the Senate. Jim and Mary…

A viable triad at a minimum, per se, has to include nuclear capability or it is not part of our nuclear triad, right? And what I am saying here is that the administration is not assuring us that the long-range bomber will be nuclear…

I will be happy to respond to that. Let me respond first by quoting two key officials from the Obama administration: Secretary Gates and Under Secretary of Defense Jim Miller. This is what I gather their decision is going to be based on…