START Treaty Ratification Hits a Roadblock
In a blow to President Barack Obama, chances faded Tuesday for Senate approval of a major nuclear arms treaty with Russia this year, tripping up one of the administration's top foreign policy goals: improving relations with Moscow.
Obama has been pushing to get enough Republican support for a vote before the Democratic majority shrinks by six in January, and was optimistic just over the weekend about sealing perhaps his most significant foreign policy achievement.
Part of the task included winning over Sen. Jon Kyl, the leading Republican senator on the New START agreement, who has demanded more funds for the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a condition for approving the treaty. The White House proposed adding $4.1 billion to modernize the arsenal and officials traveled to Kyl's home state to sell the pact, according to a congressional aide. But the senator wasn't sufficiently impressed.
In a statement Tuesday, Kyl said he didn't think the issue should be considered this year, citing a busy Senate agenda and the complexity of the treaty. Democrats are unlikely to be able to move forward without his support.
Clinton, Gates Renew Call for START Treaty Ratification
"When Majority Leader Harry Reid asked me if I thought the treaty could be considered in the lame duck session, I replied I did not think so given the combination of other work Congress must do and the complex and unresolved issues related to START and modernization," Kyl said.
The administration reacted swiftly with Vice President Joe Biden warning that Senate failure to ratify the treaty would endanger the national security of the United States. Without ratification, Americans will have no way to verify Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal and cooperation would weaken between two nations that hold 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, he said.
The administration is worried that ratification could slip out of reach if the vote is delayed until next year. Even with their current large majority in the Senate, Democrats have struggled to win enough support from Republicans, many of whom have opposed the treaty or raised concerns. Sixty-seven votes are needed for ratification.
Kyl's rejection of fast action will likely set the treaty back at least for months because Republicans will probably demand new hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so that newly elected lawmakers are briefed.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the administration believes it has already addressed the concerns of Kyl and other Republicans on the treaty and funding for the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
"The New START treaty is in our national interest and we believe it should be voted upon in this lame duck session," Crowley said.
Kyl said that he had spoken with Reid Monday night. The Republican senator's support is crucial because a number of his Republican colleagues have said they will follow his lead on the treaty.
Kyl has maintained that boosting funding for the stockpile would ease Republican concerns about the treaty by demonstrating that the administration is serious about maintaining a robust U.S. nuclear deterrent. The treaty would reduce U.S. and Russian limits on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would set up new procedures to allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals to verify compliance.
Some Republicans have argued that the treaty would limit U.S. missile defense options and does not provide adequate procedures to ensure that Russia is living up to its terms. Advocates dispute both charges.
Failure to win passage could trip up one of the administration's top foreign policy goals: improving relations with Russia. The treaty, signed in April by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, has been the most tangible sign of success, and failure to get it ratified could be viewed as a rebuke in Moscow. It also would leave Obama's push for even greater restrictions on the world's nuclear arsenal in doubt.
© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Obama has been pushing to get enough Republican support for a vote before the Democratic majority shrinks by six in January, and was optimistic just over the weekend about sealing perhaps his most significant foreign policy achievement.
Part of the task included winning over Sen. Jon Kyl, the leading Republican senator on the New START agreement, who has demanded more funds for the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a condition for approving the treaty. The White House proposed adding $4.1 billion to modernize the arsenal and officials traveled to Kyl's home state to sell the pact, according to a congressional aide. But the senator wasn't sufficiently impressed.
In a statement Tuesday, Kyl said he didn't think the issue should be considered this year, citing a busy Senate agenda and the complexity of the treaty. Democrats are unlikely to be able to move forward without his support.
Clinton, Gates Renew Call for START Treaty Ratification
"When Majority Leader Harry Reid asked me if I thought the treaty could be considered in the lame duck session, I replied I did not think so given the combination of other work Congress must do and the complex and unresolved issues related to START and modernization," Kyl said.
The administration reacted swiftly with Vice President Joe Biden warning that Senate failure to ratify the treaty would endanger the national security of the United States. Without ratification, Americans will have no way to verify Russia's strategic nuclear arsenal and cooperation would weaken between two nations that hold 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, he said.
The administration is worried that ratification could slip out of reach if the vote is delayed until next year. Even with their current large majority in the Senate, Democrats have struggled to win enough support from Republicans, many of whom have opposed the treaty or raised concerns. Sixty-seven votes are needed for ratification.
Kyl's rejection of fast action will likely set the treaty back at least for months because Republicans will probably demand new hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so that newly elected lawmakers are briefed.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that the administration believes it has already addressed the concerns of Kyl and other Republicans on the treaty and funding for the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
"The New START treaty is in our national interest and we believe it should be voted upon in this lame duck session," Crowley said.
Kyl said that he had spoken with Reid Monday night. The Republican senator's support is crucial because a number of his Republican colleagues have said they will follow his lead on the treaty.
Kyl has maintained that boosting funding for the stockpile would ease Republican concerns about the treaty by demonstrating that the administration is serious about maintaining a robust U.S. nuclear deterrent. The treaty would reduce U.S. and Russian limits on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would set up new procedures to allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals to verify compliance.
Some Republicans have argued that the treaty would limit U.S. missile defense options and does not provide adequate procedures to ensure that Russia is living up to its terms. Advocates dispute both charges.
Failure to win passage could trip up one of the administration's top foreign policy goals: improving relations with Russia. The treaty, signed in April by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, has been the most tangible sign of success, and failure to get it ratified could be viewed as a rebuke in Moscow. It also would leave Obama's push for even greater restrictions on the world's nuclear arsenal in doubt.
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Since the republicans were kept entirely out of the loop for the past 2 years, I do not blame them at all for wanting to digest all this legislation that was written without their input.
Afghanistan, Iraq and the Bush Tax Cuts which combined have cost America over $3 Trillion Dollars, and were ALL DONE on Borrowed Money by a Republican President misguidedly Enabled by GOP Majorities in the House & Senate, during the 1st 6 years of this decade, reverse the ill advised Enrgy Act of 2005 which EXEMPTS Oil Companies from the Clean Air & Water Acts, reverse the Tragic ruling by the Supreme Court in January 2010, which bestows Individual Rights on Corporations, and provides for PURCHASING Elections...NEVER Contemplated by our Founding Fathers! Your position and subsequent conduct regarding this treaty is despicable and irresponsible, at best. Unfortunately, with even more Right Wing Extremists lurking in the wings, I am afraid that the next 2 years will see the United States engaged in backward thinking digression until the electorate collects its thoughts and remembers that Republicans and their 30 year Experiment of Deregulation and rewarding the Rich and Well Connected are, among other GOP atrocities, what got America off in a Terribly Wrong direction
These obstructionists have got to be stopped. Damn all you Democrats and progressive minded Independents that didn't vote in 2010... is not getting your pet project done really worth having these craven Republican politicians destroy any good thing that can be done today, just to win tomorrow?
Hey, if you detonate them, they're going to go off, OK?! 'Modernizing' them, is a synonym, for wasting more money! But, Kyl (R-Az), wants to DELAY a vote---meaning, OBSTRUCT public business AGAIN! The new session hasn't even started and the GOP is 'dragging it's feet' again! It looks like the end of the next two years can't come fast enough!!