Nancy Kassebaum: “the Senate is debating whether to give its consent to a treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation that…”

“the Senate is debating whether to give its consent to a treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation that will significantly reduce the number of strategic nuclear weapons on each side. This is a solemn responsibility that our Constitution vests in the Senate, and nobody in this body undertakes this task lightly. The Senate has taken nearly 3 years to consider this agreement, which was transmitted to us in the last days of the Bush administration. Both the Foreign Relations Committee and the Armed Services Committee have conducted hearings on the treaty and have carefully reviewed its provisions. We have heard from negotiators, foreign policy experts, military officers, and many other analysts. We have heard many thoughtful arguments pro and con. Based on that record, I believe implementation of the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty [START II] is strongly in the national interest of the United States. This treaty, if implemented, will represent, in the words of President Bush, ``a watershed in our efforts to stabilize the nuclear balance and further reduce strategic offensive arms.'' Let me be clear that the START II agreement, while important, leaves unresolved many difficult aspects of the cold war's nuclear legacy. We must find ways to secure and, ultimately, to destroy the fissile material from the dismantled arsenals of the United States and former Soviet Union.”