Political Quotes

“I suggest that we seek to reach an agreement for the Russians to come and bring with them all their codes and their classified communications modes, learn what our early warning system is, tell us what they will of theirs, perhaps be open about its own weaknesses, which are so great. These are the people who still have the fate of mankind in their hands, and they haven't been paid in 6 months. What they talk about, evidently, is the need for money. How in God's name we cannot provide it I fail to see. The maintenance of our nuclear system in the course of a half century cost $5.5 trillion. I sometimes forget this, but in my years on the Finance Committee, I have learned that a billion minutes ago, Saint Peter was just 30 years dead. A billion is a large number. A trillion is beyond our capacity. They are asking thousands of millions. Very little. I hope Beijing might want to join. I would invite Islamabad and New Delhi, places which are unstable and have nuclear devices. Out of that, Mr. President, out of this immediate crisis, we might find a longrun institution or institutions--they need not be here, exclusively--they can be in many places--in which we would monitor one another's nuclear activity while, pray God, we develop it down, and relearn the confidence-building measures that were so important in the cold war. That telephone between the Kremlin and the White House made more of a difference than we probably know. It is this kind of thing.…”