John Kerry: “First of all, it is probably not too relevant, but I would like to say that this should have been the Lieberman-Corker…”

“First of all, it is probably not too relevant, but I would like to say that this should have been the Lieberman-Corker- McCain or Corker-Lieberman-McCain amendment because of the distribution of effort that has been made on this amendment. Be that as it may, I think this amendment makes some improvement that will be very helpful. It has two parts. The first requires the President to certify that we do not recognize Russia's argument that the treaty can only be effective and viable only in conditions where the United States is not building up its missile defenses. The statement would also be transmitted to the Russians when the instruments of ratification are exchanged. Second, the amendment would include in the instrument an understanding that the preamble is not legally binding. I think this is a helpful amendment, and I appreciate that it could be included by the Senator from Massachusetts, but ultimately it does not address my concerns that the Russians believe the treaty could be used to limit our missile defense. We should have removed this clause from the preamble. The message sent by the first part of this amendment is positive, but it is not conveyed to the Duma.”