-Caveat Lector- >From http://www.security-policy.org/papers/1999/99-D128.html {{<Begin>}} Publications of the Center for Security Policy No. 99-D 128 DECISION BRIEF 3 November 1999 Defending the Senate's Constitutional Prerogatives: Lott is Right, Clinton- Albright Wrong on the Status of the C.T.B.T. (Washington, D.C.): Subsequent to the Senate's crushing rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) on 13 October, President Clinton, his senior subordinates and spokesmen have taken the astonishing position that nothing has changed with respect to U.S. obligations to adhere to the Treaty. Yesterday, the Washington Times broke the story that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had even gone so far as to write her counterparts in foreign capitals that "I want to assure you that the United States will continue to act in accordance with its obligations as a signatory under international law." This statement is not only a misrepresentation of the actual legal situation with respect to this fatally flawed treaty. It also bespeaks contempt for the status of the Senate as a co-equal partner with the executive in treaty-making. Enter Senator Lott Fortunately, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) has responded appropriately and forcefully. In a statement cited in today's Times, Sen. Lott declared: "I am deeply disturbed by the Administration's most recent interpretation of the status of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. If the Senate does not consent to ratification of a treaty -- and in this case we didn't -- it has no status for the United States in international law. In fact, the Senate vote serves to release the United States from any possible obligations as a signatory of the negotiated text of the treaty." Senator Lott put the Administration on notice, moreover, that its high-handedness in connection with the Senate's action on CTBT could have profound effects for its consideration of the President's security policy agenda more generally: "If the Administration persists in maintaining that the United States is bound as a matter of international law to a treaty that has been rejected by the Senate, then there will be profound implications for the relationship between the President and the Senate on foreign policy matters." Not the Only Offense The latter warning is all the more justified in light of the fact that the Clinton Administration's cavalier approach to the Senate's constitutional prerogatives is not limited to the CTBT. Indeed, the President is insisting on observing another accord -- the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty -- that under international law lapsed eight years ago when the other party, the Soviet Union, became extinct.(1) He has even begun negotiations aimed at modifying this obsolete accord, the practical effect of which is to give the Russians a veto over U.S. decisions to deploy missile defenses. Worse yet, Mr. Clinton refuses to submit to the Senate new agreements his Administration negotiated two years ago with a view to breathing fresh life into the ABM Treaty, out of a justifiable fear that the Senate would likely reject the broadening of the scope and the signatories of the original treaty that they would entail. Clearly it is the case, however, that -- in the absence of such replacement treaties -- the 1972 agreement can no longer be legally binding upon the United States. Similarly, the President refuses to seek the Senate's advice and consent to the Kyoto Protocol -- another fatally flawed treaty that he is allowing to bind the United States to obligatory reductions in the emission of so-called "greenhouse gases" in clear defiance of the constitutionally mandated procedure.(2) Here, too, the reason appears to be that the Protocol would face certain rejection by the Senate. Mr. Clinton presumably calculates that, as long as Senators are denied a chance to vote it down, he remains free to issue executive orders compelling compliance on the part of the Federal government and, inevitably, upon others, as well. The Bottom Line Senator Lott and other defenders of the Senate's prerogatives like Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms (R-NC) and Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) are absolutely right to reject the Administration's arrogant behavior on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. In fact, one of the reasons they and forty-eight other Senators voted to defeat the CTBT last month was precisely because they were concerned that delaying a vote -- as the Administration and many others urged them to do -- would have the effect of perpetuating American obligations under international law to take no steps that would undercut the object and purpose of the Treaty. Nothing but grief can come to the country if the President is effectively able to make any deals he wishes, no matter how inconsistent with U.S. security, economic or other vital interests, and then insist that they be considered binding upon the Nation -- even if he denies the Senate an opportunity to vote upon them or, in the event a vote is allowed to be taken, the Senate rejects the treaty in question. - 30 - 1. See the Center's Press Release entitled Message to Albright, Primakov: New Legal Analysis Establishes That The A.B.M. Treaty Died with the U.S.S.R. (No. 99-P 11, 22 January 1999). 2. See Eco-Disarmament: Clinton-Gore's Global Warming Crusade Threatens U.S. Military -- As Well As The Nation's Economy (No. 97-D 135, 15 September 1997); Effects of Clinton's Global Warming Treaty on U.S. Security Gives New Meaning to the Term 'Environmental Impact' (No. 97-C 149, 6 October 1997); and The Senate Must Insist On An Early Vote On The Kyoto Treaty (No. 97-C 193, 15 December 1997). NOTE: The Center's publications are intended to invigorate and enrich the debate on foreign policy and defense issues. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of all members of the Center's Board of Advisors. Top of Page © 1988-1999, Center for Security Policy {{<End>}} A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Integrity has no need of rules. -Albert Camus (1913-1960) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your common sense." --Buddha + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." Universal Declaration of Human Rights + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." Ernest Hemingway + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; no endorsement to be presumed + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
