Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the Constitution of the United States is an amazing document. Every day I appreciate the foresight of our Founding Fathers who knew that future Presidents, of any political philosophy, would seek to expand their power and try to impose their will over the legislative branch, the branch closest to the citizens of the United States. For this reason they added an important clause in article 2, section 2 that says ``He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;'' Negotiators for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty on both sides know the terms of our Constitution, which predates both the Russian Federation and the Soviet Union it replaced. However, as the Senate considered the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or the START treaty, supporters of the treaty seemed to say that the Senate should abandon its role of advice and just focus on consent. It was repeated many times that any change, no matter how minor or no matter how much it improved the treaty, would be considered a treaty-killer as further negotiation with Russia was inexplicably taken off the table as an option. The reasonable amendments offered by Republican Senators were all rebuffed. The supporters of the treaty repeated many times how reasonable the amendments were but that the treaty was not the appropriate time to be debating such matters.…”