Political Quotes

“Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oklahoma for yielding some time. We are going to vote on his amendment and on the amendment I have offered. Both address important subjects in the treaty. The Senator from Oklahoma is dealing with the issue of verification and pointing out the shortcomings in the treaty with regard to that very important issue. The amendment I will have voted on deals with the issue of delivery vehicles, which, in my judgment, is a critically important element in this treaty as well. As I have said earlier today on the floor, what this amendment does-- it is very straightforward and it is very simple--is it just increases the number of deployed delivery vehicles, which are the bombers, the submarines, and the ICBMs allowed for in the treaty from 700 to 720. In terms of background about why that is important--and I want to inform my colleagues in the Senate about why it is important we get that number up to 720--I asked at an Armed Services Committee hearing at what point between the range of 500 and 1,100 delivery systems that GEN James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, would be comfortable and where we would avoid making our triad into a dyad. He said: ``I would be very concerned if we got down below those levels about midpoint,'' meaning that he would be concerned if the negotiated number fell below about 800 delivery vehicles.…”