Sam Gejdenson: “As a general practice, I think the Congress ought to execute its authority based on a concluded agreement, not taking…”

“As a general practice, I think the Congress ought to execute its authority based on a concluded agreement, not taking action prior to having any understanding what the parameters of the agreement will be in that region or anywhere else. It would be akin to voting on treaties before they were drafted. If the leadership of this body were running the Senate, I imagine the next time we had a nuclear missile proliferation treaty or other arms control treaty, the Senate would either approve them or reject them before the ink was even on the page. The lives of men, women and children in the region will depend on the actions we take, and again I would like to briefly review a little history. A previous administration said this was a European problem, let the Europeans solve it. Over 200,000 men, women and children died, entire villages were exterminated, a level of atrocity not seen since World War II or Cambodia occurred in the heart of Europe. Senator Dole testified that if we fail to act today, it will be likely that we will fail to achieve peace.”