William Helms: “I am absolutely astonished our friends across the aisle refuse to agree to the majority leader's unanimous consent…”

“I am absolutely astonished our friends across the aisle refuse to agree to the majority leader's unanimous consent agreement to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty to the Senate floor for debate and vote on October 7. I think this refusal is significant because of the incessant grandstanding that has been going on by the administration and some Senators and, of course, the liberal media that are not going to tell the facts about the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty--all clamoring that there is such an urgent need for immediate Senate action on the CTBT. It has been proclaimed constantly that the Senate absolutely must ratify the treaty so the United States can participate in the October 6 through 8 conference in Vienna. Yet when the majority leader offered a unanimous consent agreement to bring the treaty to a vote in time for that conference, the same people clamored for more action, running for the hills and demanding more time and making other demands. If it were not so pitiful, this behavior would be amusing. I am not going to let Senators have it both ways.”