Political Quotes

“if I might summarize, again, on five occasions President Clinton has signed into law actions by the Congress of the United States which state very clearly we should not go to these levels. There it is. It is interesting, one of the reasons Congress took that action is we were not sure what the Duma would do on START II. We were right. They accepted START II, but with the following conditions on it: ABM treaty demarcation protocol, ABM treaty succession multilateralization protocol, START II extension protocol. Those protocols have not been sent to the Senate by the President. No one can refute that; they have not been sent here. They do not have his endorsement. That is why we should not undo hastily with this amendment this fabric of legislation which for 5 consecutive years has been passed by the Congress and signed by the President of the United States. The Warner amendment does not preclude President Clinton from negotiating. It does not preclude our President from creating a QDR in the next few months, creating an updated nuclear posture. He could do it. But it would be imprudent and unwise to do it because it would run against the guidance provided by the Congress. No one should say this Congress, particularly the Senate, is not an equal partner on matters of seriousness of this nature, particularly as it relates to treaties. It is in the Constitution just as clearly as is the President's Commander in Chief role.”