Political Quotes

“I ask that I be notified after 7 minutes. Mr. President, when the Senate gives its advice and consent to a treaty, it becomes the ``supreme law of the land'' on par with Federal statutes. This is Article VI, Clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution. It is in our Constitution. That is why we must take great care in ratifying treaties and doing so only if it advances U.S. interests at home or abroad. The overwhelming majority of constituent comments my office has received have been in opposition to the convention--approximately 1,000 letters in opposition; 40 letters or so in support. Moreover, I, along with 36 other Senators, joined a letter to the Senate leadership requesting that no treaties be brought to the floor during the lameduck session. A treaty is a powerful document, equal to or above statutory law. Historically, treaties are to regulate the relationship between sovereign nations. They do things like settle border disputes and create trade relations between those two nations. While treaties on occasion have blurred the line between international relations, the line, the principle still remains fundamentally intact. This Nation has never ratified a treaty of which the entire focus is to empower an international agency--here, the United Nations, an organization that truly is proving to be dysfunctional and often hostile to the most legitimate interests of the United States--to monitor the internal policies of the United States.…”