Byron Dorgan: “Today, in the Washington Post, there was a story headlined ``U.S. Arms Policy is Criticized at the United Nations.'' The…”

“Today, in the Washington Post, there was a story headlined ``U.S. Arms Policy is Criticized at the United Nations.'' The occasion of the criticism comes at the beginning of the conference to review the status of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which opened yesterday at the United Nations in New York. This conference occurs once every 5 years. It is a conference on the status of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I would like to read the first paragraph of the story in the Washington Post because it is really quite a sad day when our country is described in the following way: After years of championing international attempts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, the United States found itself on the defensive today as a broad alliance of arms control advocates, senior United Nations officials, and diplomats from nonnuclear countries charged that Washington is blocking progress toward disarmament. Well, that is not something any of us aspires to hear.”