1.   As the debate over the chemical weapons treaty reached its peak, much of the media attention was locked on the majority leader.

2.   After lobbying undecided lawmakers over the weekend, President Clinton said Tuesday he is optimistic the Senate will ratify a historic chemical weapons treaty negotiated by his Republican predecessor.

3.   After vowing to block a vote on the chemical weapons treaty earlier this year, Helms relented and allowed it to reach the Senate floor.

4.   Bush walked away from a biological weapons treaty that would have violated the Fourth Amendment, in addition to national security and common sense.

5.   But Helms is also mercurial, and there are ways to build support against him with finesse, as the Clinton administration demonstrated on the chemical weapons treaty.

6.   But the biological weapons treaty does not contain a means of verifying compliance.

7.   Clinton has said that the chemical weapons treaty will help fight terrorism and help protect U.S. troops from chemical attacks.

8.   Democrats oppose the system because, they say, it is based on antiquated technology and would undermine international weapons treaties.

9.   Helms also wrote that he wanted his committee to consider the restructuring of the United Nations and the State Department before taking up the chemical weapons treaty.

10.   His hotheads may get their jollies as Jesse Helms plays games with the chemical weapons treaty and Shelby fools with the CIA.