John Sarbanes: “I will be brief. I rise in very strong support of the amendment offered by the distinguished Senator from Delaware. I do…”

“I will be brief. I rise in very strong support of the amendment offered by the distinguished Senator from Delaware. I do it out of respect for his past efforts in addressing this issue, along with Senator Helms. I have to confess that, at the time, I thought we should pay all of our arrearages without those conditions. We had a very difficult situation in the U.N., but in the end, the situation was negotiated out and an agreement was reached on the 27 percent. So as long as we pay that amount, we are not falling into arrears. If we drop the 27 percent down to 25 percent, as I understand the amendment of the chairman of the committee would do, we immediately throw ourselves back into a situation where we start building up arrears. In effect, we end up going back on an agreement that was reached after very intense negotiations with the U.N., as I recall, led by Ambassador Holbrooke at the time. Interestingly enough, the current administration, the Bush administration, as I understand it, is supportive of the position that the Senator from Delaware is offering with this amendment. This amendment is consistent with what the administration has sought in terms of extending the 27-percent cap. Now, the bill as it came out of the committee extended that cap permanently. This amendment would extend it for 2 years. I understand that is the administration's position.…”