[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 172 (Thursday, November 2, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S16563-S16564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IMPORTANCE OF SENATE RATIFICATION OF START II TREATY

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, I wish to speak for a few moments on 
another matter. This is a subject of profound importance that the 
Senate is not dealing with at the moment, and that is providing our 
advice and consent to ratification of the START II Treaty.
  The START II Treaty is one that was negotiated and signed during the 
Bush administration.
  It is so clearly in our national interest to proceed with that treaty 
that I have heard literally no dissent on that subject. Yet, it remains 
bottled up in the Foreign Relations Committee, apparently, as a hostage 
in a dispute over whether the chairman of the committee will get his 
way in the consolidation of our foreign affairs agencies.
  In my view, this is profoundly wrong. Getting rid of several thousand 
nuclear weapons in Russia is so clearly in our national interest that 
it is, to me, tragic that the treaty is caught up in the sort of 
brinkmanship that has come to characterize the new congressional 
majority's approach to legislating. If it is not the daily public 
threat to refuse to raise the debt limit, it is the quiet threat we 
hear to torpedo the SALT II Treaty and the Chemical Weapons Convention.
  Let me read into the Record some statements made by various people--
most of who happen to be Republican--in favor of the START II Treaty.
  President George Bush: ``The START II Treaty is clearly in the 
interest of the United States and represents a watershed in our efforts 
to stabilize the nuclear balance and further reduce strategic defensive 
arms.''
  Senator Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee:

       I a m persuaded that the 3,000 to 3,500 nuclear weapons 
     allowed Russia and the United States in this START treaty 
     does not meet reasonable standards of safety.

       He made that statement on February 3 of this year.
  The Heritage Foundation, in the briefing book that they prepared for 
new Members of this Congress: ``The START II Treaty will serve U.S. 
interests and should be approved for ratification.''
  The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell:
       ``With a U.S. force structure of about 3,500 nuclear 
     weapons, we have the capability to deter any actor in the 
     other capital no matter what he has at his disposal.''
  The present Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General 
Shalikashvili, said: ``I strongly urge prompt Senate advice and consent 
on the ratification of START II.''
  Senator Richard Lugar of this body said: ``If new unfriendly regimes 
come to power, we want those regimes to be legally obligated to observe 
START limits.''
  Senator McCain said: ``With the conclusion of the START II, the 
threat of nuclear war has been greatly reduced, and our relationship 
with the former Soviet Union established on a more secure basis.''
  Mr. President, let me also read into the Record a statement made by 
the President's press secretary on October 20, in response to yet 
another postponement of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee business 
meeting on this issue. This is headlined, ``The White House Office of 
the Press Secretary.''
  It says:

       The President expressed concern today about the 
     postponement of yesterday's Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee business meeting. He urged the Senate to completes 
     its consideration of both the START II Treaty and the 
     Chemical Weapons Convention and to provide its advice and 
     consent to their ratification as soon as possible.

  I ask unanimous consent that the full statement be printed in the 
Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                                                  The White House,


                                Office of the Press Secretary,

                                 Washington, DC, October 20, 1995.

                    Statement by the Press Secretary

       The President expressed concern today about the 
     postponement of yesterday's Senate Foreign Relations 
     Committee business meeting. He urged the Senate to complete 
     its consideration of both the START II Treaty and the 
     Chemical Weapons Convention and to provide its advice and 
     consent to their ratification as soon as possible.
       ``START II and the CWC are of critical importance to U.S. 
     national security,'' the President declared. ``They will help 
     create a safer world for all Americans, and for our friends 
     and allies. We need these two vital treaties now.''
       START II will continue the process begun by START I of 
     achieving deep reduction in Russian nuclear weapons. This 
     will further diminish the nuclear threat and advance U.S. 
     nonproliferation interests.
       The Chemical Weapons Convention will ban an entire class of 
     weapons of mass destruction. Its nonproliferation provisions 

[[Page S 16564]]

     will make it harder and more costly for proliferators and 
     terrorists alike to acquire chemical weapons.
       Both START II and the CWC were negotiated and signed under 
     the Bush Administration. Last month, the Senate adopted an 
     amendment expressing the view that the Senate should promptly 
     provide its advice and consent to their ratification. The 
     President urges the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to 
     allow the full Senate to carry out its Constitutional 
     responsibilities and to support the ratification of START II 
     and the CWC this fall.

  Mr. BINGAMAN. Mr. President, as I said at the outset, it would be 
tragic if the Senate did not give its consent to the ratification of 
the START II Treaty before we adjourn in December or late November of 
this year. It will reflect very badly upon the leadership of this 
Senate. It will play into the hands of those in the Duma in Moscow, who 
want to torpedo the treaty.
  It is incredible to me that we can find time to debate all manner of 
secondary foreign policy matters on this Senate floor, such as the 
Helms-Burton Cuba bill and Jerusalem Embassy bill. One newspaper 
headline referred to this as the ``Majority Leader's World Tour.'' But 
we do not seem to be able to find time for the START II Treaty. We have 
had plenty of days around here recently where we were marking time in 
morning business, and today is one of those days. We will likely have 
more of them in the weeks to come. We need to use at least one of those 
days--the sooner the better--to provide our consent to ratification of 
a treaty that is so clearly in our national interest. We need to stop 
the brinkmanship, at least when it comes to matters beyond our shores, 
on which there is bipartisan consensus.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

                          ____________________