Political Quotes

“I join my colleagues who have taken the floor this morning to urge a timely ratification of the START treaty. We have now been 1 year without a comprehensive verification regime to understand Russia's strategic nuclear forces. Since the end of the Cold War, we have had a verification system in place because we need to know what Russia is doing. We are at risk by not having a comprehensive verification regime in place. The ratification of New START will allow us to have that verification system in place, and it is in our national security interest. We have had plenty of opportunity to understand exactly what is involved in the New START Treaty. For 7 months, the Senate has been considering the ratification. We have had over 20 hearings. I am honored to serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We have had numerous hearings and opportunities, both in closed sessions and open sessions, to understand exactly why this ratification is in the security interest of the United States. I point out that this is New START. We already had a Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia that expired at the end of last year. That treaty was ratified by a prior vote of 93 to 6. So we have great interest. We know what is involved, and we have had strong, bipartisan support for the ratification of START. The United States needs transparency to know what Russia is doing and to provide confidence and stability.”