[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 171 (Monday, December 20, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S10802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           Amendment No. 4847

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is now 4 minutes equally divided prior 
to a vote on the LeMieux amendment.
  The Senator from Florida.
  Mr. LeMIEUX. Madam President, this amendment says simply one thing: 
that within 1 year's time of the ratification of this treaty, the 
United States and Russia would sit down and negotiate a tactical 
nuclear weapons treaty. Why do I bring this forward? Because we know--
and we heard a lot about it today in our closed session--that there is 
a tremendous disparity between the number of tactical nuclear weapons 
our country has at 300 and the Russians have at 3,000--10 to 1. If this 
treaty is ratified, the Russians will have 4,500 nuclear weapons. We 
will have 1,800.
  This is not a poison pill. You will hear that; it is not. It does not 
change a material term of this agreement. It just says within a year's 
time, we will sit down and enter into these negotiations. We need to 
put it into the treaty because that is the only way we can make sure it 
will happen.
  If we send this treaty with this amendment back to the Russian Duma 
and they don't approve it, what does that say? It says they know they 
have a significant advantage over us. It is the right thing to do. It 
is something I think all of our colleagues should be able to agree to. 
It is not a poison pill. Let's approve it. Thank you.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Massachusetts.
  Mr. KERRY. Madam President, I will be very brief.
  I completely agree with the intention of the Senator. I think all of 
us agree we have to negotiate a tactical nuclear weapons treaty with 
Russia. Unfortunately, this, according to our NATO allies, according to 
our national security representatives, will actually prevent us from 
getting to the place where we negotiate that because the first thing we 
have to do to get the Russians to the table is pass the START treaty.
  If we pass the New START treaty, we can engage in these discussions. 
If we don't pass it, they have no confidence. We simply go back to 
ground zero and begin negotiating all the pre-START items again before 
we can ever get there. We cannot just pass this unilaterally and order 
them to get there. We have to get them to enter into those 
negotiations. The way to do that is to preserve the integrity of the 
START treaty and then get to those agreements. We have that in the 
resolution of ratification.
  There is language that urges the President and embraces this notion 
of the Senator from Florida. I congratulate him for wanting to target 
it. It is important to target it, and we will do it in the resolution 
of ratification.
  I yield back any time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to amendment No. 
4847.
  Mr. BOND. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There is a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Indiana (Mr. Bayh) and 
the Senator from Oregon (Mr. Wyden) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator 
from Kansas (Mr. Brownback).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 35, nays 62, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 287 Ex.]

                                YEAS--35

     Barrasso
     Bond
     Brown (MA)
     Bunning
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     DeMint
     Ensign
     Enzi
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hatch
     Hutchison
     Inhofe
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Kirk
     Kyl
     LeMieux
     McCain
     McConnell
     Murkowski
     Risch
     Roberts
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Vitter
     Wicker

                                NAYS--62

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bennett
     Bingaman
     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Dodd
     Dorgan
     Durbin
     Feingold
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Gregg
     Hagan
     Harkin
     Inouye
     Johnson
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Landrieu
     Lautenberg
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lincoln
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCaskill
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Mikulski
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Rockefeller
     Sanders
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Specter
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Voinovich
     Warner
     Webb
     Whitehouse

                             NOT VOTING--3

     Bayh
     Brownback
     Wyden
  The amendment (No. 4847) was rejected.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.
  Mr. LAUTENBERG. I move to lay that motion on the table.
  The motion to reconsider was laid on the table.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 
about 7 minutes as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Is there objection?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  (The remarks of Mr. Grassley are printed in today's Record under 
``Morning Business.'')
  Mr. GRASSLEY. I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.