Angie Craig: “I stand this morning to join my colleague, the Senator from West Virginia, in the introduction of a sense-of-the-Senate…”

“I stand this morning to join my colleague, the Senator from West Virginia, in the introduction of a sense-of-the-Senate resolution on climate change negotiation. The Senator from West Virginia and I agree that the administration needs to understand the Senate is very concerned about the potential adverse consequences of the proposed changes to the U.S. Framework Convention on Climate Change to which this body gave its consent shortly after it was signed by President George Bush at the Rio de Janeiro conference in 1992. I hope this resolution will be a much needed wake-up call to the administration about the seriousness of the Senate's views on its current negotiating position. I do not think it was proper for this administration to change the position of the United States from a voluntary approach that was endorsed by the entire developed world to a legally binding treaty to impose enforceable greenhouse gas reduction targets by a date certain. I am particularly concerned the administration did not consult with Congress prior to taking this new position which I am told was reached in the early morning hours of the last day of the Berlin negotiations.”