Mike Levin: “These arms reduction treaties, starting with the ABM Treaty, which is limiting arms, and then going to START I and START…”

“These arms reduction treaties, starting with the ABM Treaty, which is limiting arms, and then going to START I and START II--START II is before us now, supported by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee--these have been negotiated by Democratic and Republican administrations alike. These are not partisan treaties. President Nixon is the one who negotiated the ABM Treaty. This is a Republican President who strongly believed that the ABM Treaty was in our security interest, and I believe every single President since has supported keeping the ABM Treaty, modifying it at times. We have had protocols to it, we have had interpretations to it, but it has allowed us to reduce offensive arms. So it has had broad bipartisan support in administration after administration.”