Barbara Boxer: “I wish to thank my chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Corker, for his courtesies. We do not agree on…”

“I wish to thank my chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Corker, for his courtesies. We do not agree on this particular matter, but there are a lot of matters when it comes to foreign policy on which we do agree. I do agree this should be a very straightforward debate--either you are for this agreement or you are not. I think the fact that Congress is voting on it is good. I did support that in the committee. That calls for regular order as far as the way we treat this very important vote. I am very proud to stand here today as the longest serving member sitting on the Foreign Relations Committee today. Out of all of the members, I have been there the longest. When I got there, I did not have these gray hairs. I am not blaming any of the topics that came before us for these gray hairs; however, we have had some tough debates, and this certainly is one of them. I know my friend has a lot to do. I just want to say I was pleased to yield to him because I think he has set the right tone. Colleagues, this is a vote we are going to long remember, a vote on an arms control agreement that came about for only one reason. That reason is, our President and his team--former Senator John Kerry, now Secretary of State; Wendy Sherman, the chief negotiator--they were part of the team, and many others worked tirelessly against the most vitriolic opposition. The President stood firm. I want to say to him today: Thank you, Mr. President.…”