Bob Kerrey: “in 1998, the Congress, for the first time in the history of strategic nuclear weapons policy, imposed upon a President a…”

“in 1998, the Congress, for the first time in the history of strategic nuclear weapons policy, imposed upon a President a limitation on what that President could do in terms of reducing nuclear weapons. It imposed a floor at the START I levels, which is roughly 6,000 strategic nuclear weapons. It said the President could not go below 6,000, unless and until the Duma ratified START II. Last year, when I attempted to eliminate this restriction--which I believe is putting a position upon an Executive that would be very difficult to sustain if we were discussing this in the clear light of day, if it was understood by the American people that this was what we were doing--many people on that side of the aisle said: We believe this language will put pressure upon the Duma to ratify START II. The argument carried the day in a close vote of 54-46; the current policy was sustained. The language in the current law is section 1302 of the National Defense Authorization Act. It references that section 1017 of this particular legislation we are considering right now was held in law. Well, since that time, the Duma has ratified START II. I expected to bring this language to the floor this year with open arms. It worked. We put in a floor and said the United States could not go any lower, declared victory, and the Duma ratified START II.”