Closing Remarks of Debate and Roll Call Vote on
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Page S12548, Congressional Record-106th Congress
October 13, 1999

[Page S12548]

Mr. BIDEN. I do not wish to be the last to speak. I would like to use that 1 minute and ask unanimous consent that my friend be allowed to use any additional time he may want to use after that, because it is appropriate he should close.

I want to make a point in the minute I have.

This is about, as the Senator has honestly stated, more than the CTBT Treaty. It is about ending the regime of arms control. That is what this is about. If this fails, I ask you the question: Is there any possibility of amending the ABM Treaty? Is there any possibility of the START II or START III agreements coming into effect with regard to Russia? Is there any possibility of arms control surviving?

I think this is about arms control, not just about this treaty. I appreciate my friend's candor. That is one of the reasons I think it is such a devastating vote.

I yield back the remainder of our time. And I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from North Carolina be given an appropriate amount of time to respond, if he wishes.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. HELMS. Mr. President, the yeas and nays have been ordered; is that right?

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes, they have.

Mr. HELMS. Let's vote.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution to advise and consent to ratification of Treaty Document No. 105-28, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty. On this question, the yeas and nays have been ordered, and the clerk will call the roll.

The legislative clerk called the roll.

Mr. BYRD (when his name was called). Present.

The result was announced--yeas 48, nays 51, as follows:

Rollcall Vote No. 325 Ex.

[Rollcall Vote No. 325 Ex.]

YEAS--48
Akaka
Baucus
Bayh
Biden
Bingaman
Boxer
Breaux
Bryan
Chafee
Cleland
Conrad
Daschle
Dodd
Dorgan
Durbin
Edwards
Feingold
Feinstein
Graham
Harkin
Hollings
Inouye
Jeffords
Johnson
Kennedy
Kerrey
Kerry
Kohl
Landrieu
Lautenberg
Leahy
Levin
Lieberman
Lincoln
Mikulski
Moynihan
Murray
Reed
Reid
Robb
Rockefeller
Sarbanes
Schumer
Smith (OR)
Specter
Torricelli
Wellstone
Wyden

NAYS--51
Abraham
Allard
Ashcroft
Bennett
Bond
Brownback
Bunning
Burns
Campbell
Cochran
Collins
Coverdell
Craig
Crapo
DeWine
Domenici
Enzi
Fitzgerald
Frist
Gorton
Gramm
Grams
Grassley
Gregg
Hagel
Hatch
Helms
Hutchinson
Hutchison
Inhofe
Kyl
Lott
Lugar
Mack
McCain
McConnell
Murkowski
Nickles
Roberts
Roth
Santorum
Sessions
Shelby
Smith (NH)
Snowe
Stevens
Thomas
Thompson
Thurmond
Voinovich
Warner

ANSWERED `PRESENT'--1

Byrd


The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 51, and one Senator responding `present.' Not having received the affirmative votes of two-thirds of the Senators present, the resolution is not agreed to, and the Senate does not advise and consent to the ratification of the treaty.

Mr. LOTT. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. ABRAHAM. I move to lay that motion on the table.

The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Warner-Moynihan letter to the Majority and Minority leaders dated October 12, 1999, be printed in the Record.

There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the Record.