Steve Cohen: “Mr. President, let me thank Senator Thurmond for his confidence in asking Senator Warner and me to represent the…”

“Mr. President, let me thank Senator Thurmond for his confidence in asking Senator Warner and me to represent the Republican side in the negotiations with Senator Nunn and also Senator Levin. The four of us have enjoyed working together over our years of service on the Armed Services Committee, and it was a special privilege for me to be able to sit down for hours and hours, well into the night, in fact, on several occasions, working from at least 5 in the afternoon until midnight on at least two occasions, but the issues that were involved were serious. They required that kind of attention to detail. Notwithstanding some of the comments that were made earlier today by some of our colleagues, words do make a difference. Poets are not the only individuals who pinch words until they hurt. Arms controllers do as well. Words within the field of arms control carry specific meaning, and it was very important that we took great care as we tried to hammer out a compromise between our respective positions, in making sure that we would not do damage to longstanding precedents and longstanding interpretations.”