Byron Dorgan: “How did I get this? Did we shoot the bomber down? No. This bomber was sawed up. The wings were sawed off as a result of…”

“How did I get this? Did we shoot the bomber down? No. This bomber was sawed up. The wings were sawed off as a result of an arms control agreement that we have with the Russians by which we reduced our delivery systems and nuclear weapons and they reduced theirs. Their submarines are dismantled, their intercontinental ballistic missiles are dismantled, and their bombers have had the wings sawed off. This is a picture of the heavy bomber elimination, TU-95. That is what is happening with arms control. It is, in my judgment, exciting and breathtaking. What is expected to happen in the future? Under START III, we are expected to go to 2,500 nuclear weapons. Think of that--2,500 nuclear weapons. What is one nuclear weapon? In most cases, the yield of a nuclear weapon is many times the yield of the one used in Hiroshima. Mr. President, 2,500 weapons on each side if we get to that--we are not there. What has the Senate done with respect to arms control treaties? The U.S. Senate over the years has done a great deal. We passed START I, START II, the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty--a whole series of arms control initiatives. We have funded the Nuclear Cities Program to employ scientists in Russia who know how to make nuclear bombs so they are not hired by the Iranians, the North Koreans, and others. We funded the Nunn-Lugar program. We have done a lot of things. The fact is, there is no discussion anymore about arms control in this Senate.”