Political Quotes

“The answer is yes. I think what the Senator is attempting to do is very important. Let me explain to the Senator my perspective, and to state the obvious--I may very well be wrong about this. But let me tell my colleague why I honestly think what Senator Lugar and I came up with is, quite frankly, more likely to get at what we need. Condition 8 that has been referred to in the START treaty was a very new and important idea when we enacted it 10 years ago. It led the Clinton administration to use the Nunn-Lugar program to achieve a measure of transparency into the Russian fissile stockpiles in the mid- 1990s. In recent years, the United States has helped Russia to conduct a census of its civilian fissile material, but I doubt that either side is now prepared to allow access to the weapons stockpiles that are not on the civilian side of this equation. It would be my expectation that a report called for on the activities pursuant to condition 8 to the START treaty resolution of ratification would only tell us there are no negotiations toward a bilateral agreement, even though there are useful efforts underway on the Nunn- Lugar related programs. We already have a condition to the resolution before us that requires the Nunn-Lugar report; in other words, progress on Nunn-Lugar initiatives. We are required to have a report.…”