Tina Smith: “Mr. President, the other side in this debate, Senator Levin and others, assert that somehow this bill is going to…”

“Mr. President, the other side in this debate, Senator Levin and others, assert that somehow this bill is going to violate the ABM Treaty or require us to violate the ABM Treaty. Those are the terms that we have heard used--violate or require us to violate the treaty. My friend, Senator Levin, is a very accomplished attorney, and I respect his intellect very much, but this is just patently false. There is no requirement to violate any treaty in this legislation we have written. Nothing in this bill violates the treaty, nothing. If it did, if the language in here were to violate the treaty, why does the distinguished Senator from Georgia, Senator Nunn, in comment after comment talk about an anticipatory breach down the road? If there is an anticipatory breach down the road, the way I read that is there is not any breach yet. There is not any violation of anything. We are anticipating it. Well, you can anticipate anything you want, but the facts speak for themselves. This does not violate the ABM Treaty, period. Nothing in this bill violates the ABM Treaty. It is simply patently false to say that it does.”