Jim Inhofe: “first of all, something has happened that we haven't even talked about on the floor, and it is very timely and very…”

“first of all, something has happened that we haven't even talked about on the floor, and it is very timely and very significant. We all remember what has happened in the past about treaties that have come up and the administration, whether it is Democratic or Republican, if they want a treaty, they are going to try to rush it through. This same thing happened with the Law of the Sea Treaty under President Bush, and when that happened, it was somewhat of a crisis because many of us were opposed to our own President. We are going to find this to be true about the treaty I wish to address, and that is the New START treaty. I think we all remember the START treaty, the START II treaty, and now they are calling this the New START treaty. Yesterday, on June 17, in the committee on which I am the second ranking member, the Senate Armed Services Committee, we held the first hearing on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or the New START treaty. During the hearing, we had Secretary Clinton, Secretary Gates, Dr. Chu, and Admiral Mullen all emphasizing the importance of verifying the treaty. But wait a minute. They are all speaking in behalf of the President, which means we haven't had a hearing yet. This is something we are going to be talking about doing before we get any closer to ratifying this treaty. I think the bottom-line question for all Americans and the Senate is, Does this treaty improve the national security of the United States? I don't think so.”