Political Quotes

“the resolution of ratification we have before us on the treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, also known as the Moscow Treaty, is a step forward but in many ways it is a very modest step. The treaty is a three-page document signed by Presidents Bush and Putin on May 24, 2002, to reduce deployed strategic nuclear weapons to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads by December 31, 2012. The treaty actually calls for no warheads or delivery vehicles to be destroyed. They can simply be stored. There are no verification provisions, other than those still in effect through 2009 from the START treaty, and the reductions in deployed warheads have to occur by December 31, 2012, the very same day the treaty expires. However, once the reductions in deployed warheads are met, it means a large number of warheads will not be ready to launch at a moment's notice. That is a positive thing, even if no warheads are dismantled and no delivery vehicles are destroyed. When nonnuclear countries agreed to forgo nuclear weapons in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, an essential part of the grand bargain was that nuclear countries, like the United States and the Russian Federation, were to control and reduce their nuclear weapons. Because this treaty is an effort to control and reduce the number of deployed warheads, I will vote for the resolution of ratification.”