Under the Constitution, it only takes 34 votes to prevent the ratification of a treaty.
It is against this unlikely backdrop, that a group of prominent former and present officials released today a letter to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist urging him to facilitate the "expeditious" ratification of a treaty that would help establish precedents useful to opponents of the Bush Administration at the UN and elsewhere: the Law of the Sea (LOST).
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: LOST approval urged by global goverment advocates
Never before in the history of the U.S. Senate has the ratification of a strategic arms treaty been considered in a lame-duck session.
It is striking that 34 senators voted earlier this week to preserve a higher level of funding for the Strategic Defense Initiative precisely the number needed to block ratification of a deficient START Treaty.
It is striking that 34 senators voted earlier this week to preserve a higher level of funding for the Strategic Defense Initiative -- precisely the number needed to block ratification of a deficient START Treaty.
Others include the expiring program of extended benefits for the long-term unemployed, government funding, and ratification of a nuclear-arms treaty with Russia.
Incredibly, the voices of such critics were not afforded an opportunity to be heard when, in the Fall of 2003, the Foreign Relations Committee last considered the Law of the Sea Treaty and approved a resolution of ratification.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: LOST approval urged by global goverment advocates
According to the respected on-line service STRATFOR, a long-standing objective of the transnational progressives, U.S. ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), is now just a matter of time.
Senator Kyl's remarks were followed by brief comments by Rep. Solomon concerning the need for opponents of the CTBT and similar treaties to stay vigilant because the Clinton Administration, foreign governments (including some of our allies) and other advocates can be expected to mount a renewed push for the ratification of this Treaty.
In 1963, President Kennedy signed the documents of ratification for a nuclear test ban treaty with Britain and the Soviet Union.
The occasion was a momentous debate in the U.S. Senate concerning ratification of one of the Genie-stuffers' favorite hobby horses: a treaty permanently (albeit unverifiably) banning all underground nuclear tests.
This would at best impose a delay to the ratification of the treaty.
The U.S. Senate should reject ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), a treaty that purports to ban chemical weapons and forbid their production, stockpiling, and use.
The study, entitled Mapping a National Security Failure: The Ratification of the New START Treaty , was authored by Center Vice President Ben Lerner.
The study, entitled Mapping a National Security Failure: The Ratification of the New START Treaty (PDF), was authored by Center Vice President Ben Lerner.
The administration is equally fixated on another non-solution to today's threats: ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) rejected by a majority of the U.S. Senate a decade ago.
And John Holum, director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, said the Senate should put off any discussion of the treaty's costs until after ratification--a classic sales pitch for a pig in a poke.
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Toxic treaty: how not to ban chemical weapons
He was reacting to comments by Jon Kyl, a Republican senator who said he did not think ratification of the New Start treaty should be considered this year.
BBC: Biden warns failure to pass nuclear treaty endangers US
The Washington Post recently reported that, subsequent to the ratification of the so-called "New START" Treaty, the United States maintains a "major advantage over Russia" in nuclear weapons.
Still others have not specified their targets, instead urging restraint in filing such suits until the U.S. becomes a party, lest our ratification be jeopardized by prematurely revealing the true costs of this treaty.
MPs are currently debating the ratification of the treaty - but the Conservatives, who are the only party at Westminster demanding a referendum, would need to gain the support of Lib Dem and Labour MPs to get their way.
Mr Hague has said he will impose a three-line whip requiring Tories to vote against ratification of the European Union's Amsterdam treaty, which Tony Blair signed last June.
It is easy to understand why Mr. Webber's organization wants to position itself in the public mind on the side of the arms control angels, but can anyone really suppose the treaty's ratification would prevent a group like that crazed Japanese cult from making or using poison gas?
CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Blowing Smoke About Making Deadly Gas
Refused to pursue ratification of the Treaty of Rome which establishes an International Criminal Court (ICC) on the grounds that such a mechanism is likely to become politicized and may be abused to prosecute American leaders, military personnel, and other U.S. citizens without regard for their constitutional rights.
At a joint press conference last Wednesday, he was one of several Senators to declare that, as a result, supporters would be unable to muster the necessary 67 votes for ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).
应用推荐