Political Quotes

“Well, I would respond rapidly by saying that we have enough trouble figuring what happened in this Chamber, let alone a new parliamentary body in a place called Russia. I think what they did was to put those conditions on because we had said we wanted these protocols. We negotiated with them. They cannot anticipate that we in the Senate do not want to do what our Presidents have negotiated with them to get done. But there is a little concern by them about this Senate like we are concerned about them. They are saying: Look, you negotiated a START II treaty with us, and you also negotiated demarcation protocols with us that you asked for. We didn't say we want new protocols to allow certain missiles to fly at certain speeds, et cetera. We didn't ask for that. You came to us and you said that. We agree. If you are going with the whole package you negotiated with us over the years, we are in on the deal. If you are not going with the whole package you negotiated with us, we are not in on the deal, because we don't know what you are about. I think that is what they are thinking. That is what I think. Keep in mind that the demarcation protocols the Senators are talking about are not protocols that the Russians initiated. They did not sit down and say: By the way, let's accommodate your ability to have theater missile defenses. We said: We want to be able to do that. And we went to them. They said: We don't want to do anything on the protocol. We said: You have to.…”