Political Quotes

“Mr. President, as we begin consideration of the New START treaty, we must understand that the proposal is not made in a vacuum. In one sense, it is an important part of our Nation's strategic policy. I have served as chairman, ranking member, and a member of the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee, for 12 years in the Senate. Thus, on these matters of nuclear policy and missile defense that have been before us so many times, I have had a front-row seat on it. Our President, whose work and proposals absolutely deserve fair and just consideration in the Senate, after appropriate debate, has stated that this treaty is a critical part of his approach to strategic issues, repeatedly insisting that it is needed so the United States can set an example and show leadership in moving toward what he has often stated to be his goal--a nuclear-free world. This treaty now comes at a time when our Nation is the world's only nuclear power. We are the only nuclear power to have no nuclear production facility ongoing at this time. It will have to be reconstituted. That has been a sore spot in this Congress for quite a number of years, but it has not happened. For over a decade, the Senate's efforts to modernize our aging weapons stockpiles--which our scientists have told us are getting to a point where they have to be fixed--have been blocked by House Democrats, mostly, and some Republicans there.…”