In 1994, Republicans win control of both houses of Congress for the first time in forty years. In the majority, they engage in a series of confrontations with Democratic President Bill Clinton. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is negotiated in 1996 as a means of stopping the global arms race. Although 154 nations join the treaty, opponents in the Senate point out that many of the nations that possess nuclear weapons have not signed it. The Senate then defeats the treaty by a vote of 51 yeas to 48 nays.