Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. I intend to vote for this bill because it provides appropriate congressional review of a tremendously important executive agreement that is now being negotiated by the world's major powers and Iran. First of all, I want to point out that a final agreement with Iran would not be a treaty. It would be an executive agreement which follows agreements in the past going back at least until 1972. In 1972, President Nixon signed the Shanghai Communique, which reestablished relations with China. In 1975, the Ford administration signed the Helsinki Final Act, which eased tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In 1986, at Reykjavik, Iceland, President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev discussed the possibility of complete nuclear disarmament. Even though no agreement was made, Reykjavik laid the groundwork for the 1987 Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty and the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The next year, in 1987, the Reagan administration established the Missile Technology Control Regime. To this day it helps restrict the proliferation of nuclear-capable missiles and related technology. In 2013, the United States and Russia came together and disarmed Syria of its most lethal chemical weapons. Like a potential deal with Iran on its nuclear program, these examples are not treaties and did not require formal ratification by the Senate.…”