Political Quotes

“Mr. President, reserving the right to object, I would like to take just a few moments to explain why I plan to object. I have right here a letter that is signed by 36 Members of this body who express the viewpoint that because of the prerogative we have as U.S. Senators to ratify treaties--see, two-thirds of us have to provide our advice and consent to ratify a treaty before it can take effect. This is important, in part because article VI, section 2 tells us that once ratified, the treaty becomes the supreme law of the land. We have 36 Senators on this letter--a letter addressed to Leader McConnell and Leader Reid--explaining that for various reasons we do not think any treaty should come up for ratification during the lameduck period of the 112th Congress, and we explain that no treaty should be brought up during this time period and conclude that we will oppose efforts to consider any treaty during this time period. The primary reason cited in the letter is the fact that it is very important to make sure we have a full understanding of what these treaties mean. It is also important that before we undertake any significant changes to the law--law becoming supreme law of the land-- we need to understand the implications of these treaties fully.…”