Political Quotes

“today I wish to express my deep concerns regarding President Trump's suspension of U.S. participation in the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces--INF--Treaty and decision to withdraw from the treaty in 6 months. Before diving into the substance of this misguided decision, I am compelled, as the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to object to the process. The President is pulling out of this treaty, a treaty that was approved by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 93-5 and that has been in force for three decades, without official notice or any meaningful consultation with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, the congressional committee charged with responsibility and jurisdiction over treaties and without the approval of the Senate. This was despite multiple opportunities to explain the rationale for this decision, including a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on arms control and Russia. In that hearing, senior officials from the Department of State and the Department of Defense provided no indication that a decision to withdraw was even imminent, nor that U.S. forces envisioned any military operational benefit from near-term withdrawal. Article 2 of the Constitution endows the President and the Senate with shared power over treaties, including an exceptionally high bar for advice and consent.…”