Tony Thurmond: “26 years ago, the Senate provided its advice and consent to ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT].…”

“26 years ago, the Senate provided its advice and consent to ratification of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT]. In considering the treaty, Chairman Fulbright prevailed on the Members of the Senate to ratify the NPT, because without it, the world would face a wide array of potential nuclear horrors--such as developing nations acquiring nuclear weapons to elevate their status or national power; regional powers resorting to the use of nuclear weapons to settle their differences; or ethnic or religious differences being settled with nuclear weapons. He foresaw a world where major powers like the United States might be held hostage by small, poor countries who possess a few nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, or, become drawn into a nuclear confrontation brought about by these small nations through a miscalculation or an accident. At the time the NPT was negotiated there were relatively few countries who had tested or possessed nuclear weapons. Those countries were the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, France, and China. They became known as the nuclear weapons states. All other states who did not possess or had not tested nuclear weapons became known as non-nuclear weapons states. Back in 1969, when the Senate voted to provide its advice and consent to ratification of the NPT, I was one of the 15 members who voted against ratification of the treaty.”