On the recordJanuary 19, 2016
some months ago, in the midst of debate on the nuclear agreement with Iran, I came to the Senate floor to remind my colleagues of some recent history involving other negotiations undertaken with troubling regimes that turned out to serve our national security interests. I reminded my Republican colleagues that John Kennedy negotiated with the Soviet Union during the Cuban missile crisis, saving us from nuclear war. I reminded them that Richard Nixon negotiated with the Chinese on normalizing relations, even while that Communist regime in China was providing weapons to the North Vietnamese, who were using them against American soldiers. I, of course, reminded them that Ronald Reagan negotiated with the Soviets while the Communist nation had thousands of nuclear weapons pointed at the United States, was occupying Eastern Europe, and was supporting troubling regimes around the world. Let us also recall how many on the right in the political spectrum savaged then President Reagan for negotiating with the Soviets on nuclear arms. Let me read an excerpt from the January 17, 1988, New York Times about the opposition--eerily familiar to what we have been hearing in the debate on the Iran nuclear agreement--Reagan faced in negotiating an arms agreement with the Soviets: Already, right-wing groups . . . have mounted a strong campaign against the INF treaty. They have mailed out close to 300,000 letters opposing it. They have circulated 5,000 cassette recordings of Gen.…
