Kay Bailey Hutchison: “I respect everyone who is going to vote today for the position that they are taking because I know that it is sincere. I…”

“I respect everyone who is going to vote today for the position that they are taking because I know that it is sincere. I respect the people who have come out for this convention treaty--the former Presidents--and I respect the people who have come out against the treaty, the former Secretaries of Defense. It comes down, for me, to a basic question, and that is: Do we believe that international conventions and conferences keep us safe at night? Or do we believe a strong national defense is what keeps us safe at night and what has served us so well for this century? Mr. President, I think it is a commitment to a strong national defense, and I have decided, reluctantly, to vote against this convention treaty because I believe this does more to harm our strength and our national defense than it does to help it. Mr. President, we have seen our allies transfer nuclear technology that can be made into weapons to rogue nations. So now we have a treaty that will allow people to come into our chemical plants--not chemical plants that make weapons, because we are not going to make weapons, but into our chemical plants that might be doing research on how to defend against chemical weapons. That technology can then be transferred to the nations who would use the chemical weapons. It seems to me that we are unilaterally disarming ourselves, Mr.…”