He should now reassess his position, taking into account the Shalikashvili recommendations and the support for ratification previously expressed by his own designee for secretary of state, Gen. Colin Powell, also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
It requires the support of two-thirds of the House and Senate, and ratification by three-fourths of the states, or 38 states.
The IASL, although not the first organization to take up the dry crusade in Indiana, became a key force behind efforts at attaining passage of statewide prohibition in early 1917, and rallied state support for ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919.
Need for political will and social support The signature, ratification or accession by the remaining Member States and continued international support is necessary to promote the universal ratification of these two Optional Protocols by 2012.
Last summer, a coalition of international environmental groups sent a letter to the U.S. secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and two members of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, John F. Kerry, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Richard G. Lugar, Republican of Illinois, urging them to support the ratification of the 17-year-old convention.
But don't take my word for it — take the word of the allied leaders, from old and new members alike, who in Lisbon expressed their unanimous support for ratification of the treaty.
He helped the Carter administration enlist American companies to support Senate ratification of SALT I, the strategic nuclear arms reduction treaty.
Mr. McConnell also said he had not made up his mind about whether he would support a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia in the remainder of this congressional session, an apparent confirmation that Republican support for ratification may also be part of the multifaceted discussions with the White House.
But signing is one matter and ratification another.
