Cord Byrd: “At that time we were very concerned about a subsequent reinterpretation of the ABM Treaty, the ratification of which the…”

“At that time we were very concerned about a subsequent reinterpretation of the ABM Treaty, the ratification of which the Senate had approved, by a subsequent administration. Otherwise, a treaty would be without any value if a subsequent administration could come along and reinterpret a given treaty based on the way it saw things at that later time. I say all that to my good friend from Virginia because I have been involved in the ABM Treaty for a long time. At that time we saw it as a matter of grave importance that an administration be allowed to reinterpret that ABM Treaty without subsequent hearings and without subsequent approval by the Senate as to the interpretation. But here we are today, and we are walking away from that same treaty, and the administration--the President did announce this in the newspaper, but I saw nothing that was ever sent up. I do not remember ever seeing any letter from the President to the chairman of the Armed Services Committee or the Appropriations Committee or the Foreign Relations Committee or the Intelligence Committee. Now, there may have been such, but I was not aware of it. The President said, some time ago, he was thinking about doing this. He did not feel that anything needed to be put in writing. That, to me, is enough to keep me awake at night.”