John Kerry: “I want to make it clear, along with the Senator from Virginia, that this amendment, in its current form, I believe, has…”

“I want to make it clear, along with the Senator from Virginia, that this amendment, in its current form, I believe, has flaws. I would like to lift the embargo under the appropriate procedures and with an appropriate process. But the Senator from Virginia is absolutely correct in raising certain questions and in asking the Senate to make a judgment about whether or not this is the best method of accomplishing the goal that the Senator from Connecticut seeks. For instance, the language of the second-degree amendment--I regret that this is second degreed in the way it is. This is far too important an issue to come to the floor and plunk down in front of us a second-degree, prearranged amendment that may even have flaws with respect to the intentions of the proponents, but which does not allow us in the U.S. Senate to flesh out a vital foreign policy issue. Let me be very specific, Madam President. There is a unilateralness to this which the Senator seeks, I understand, in terms of the message we want to send. But the messages that are also sent with respect to our allies and current negotiating efforts the administration is in the middle of, could conceivably be extraordinarily damaging.”