Chuck Hagel: “last month the U.N. global climate treaty became available for the formal signatures of those countries who reached…”

“last month the U.N. global climate treaty became available for the formal signatures of those countries who reached agreement in Kyoto, Japan, in December. President Clinton has not signed the treaty. There is speculation, however, that he may sign the treaty this week. Today we remind the President that the U.N. global climate treaty does not meet the standards clearly established by the U.S. Senate in its 95-0 vote last year on the Byrd-Hagel resolution, Senate Resolution 98. The President should not sign any treaty until that treaty complies with Senate Resolution 98 in its entirety. The administration completely ignored the strong position of the Senate when it agreed to this treaty last December. I led the Senate observer group delegation to Kyoto, Japan, in December. After Vice President Gore came to Kyoto and instructed our negotiators to show 'increased flexibility,' the doors were thrown open and the objective became very clear. The objective was: Let us get a deal at any cost. The clear advice of the U.S. Senate and the economic well-being of the American people were abandoned under pressure from the U.N. bureaucrats, international environmentalists and the 134 developing countries that were not even included--not even included--in the treaty. The United States of America was the only Nation to come out of these negotiations worse than it came in. In fact, there was no negotiation in Kyoto; there was only surrender.”