Orrin Hatch: “it is one of those ironies of history that the U.S. Senate began debate on the ratification of the latest and historic…”

“it is one of those ironies of history that the U.S. Senate began debate on the ratification of the latest and historic arms control treaty on the day that historians mark as the 50th anniversary of death of Stalin. Whether, in fact, Stalin died on this day, or whether he had been poisoned a few days before, is a fact that, like so many others of Soviet history, is clouded with uncertainty. But it is a fact that he was one of the most brutal dictators of the 20th century and he died at a time when the Soviet Union was a global foe of the United States. More interesting for this debate, Stalin's death in 1953 occurred at a time when our nations were just beginning a strategic competition that would see our nuclear stockpile grow to massive and frightening levels before we reached our first accommodations, nearly 20 years after Stalin's death. Today, while we still have many cultural and political differences with the Russian state, we cooperate on more issues than we compete, and we do not compete under the threat of nuclear annihilation.”