Kerry vows action on proposed arms pact (Boston Globe)

[Mass]

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2010/03/post_6.html

Kerry vows action on proposed arms pact
E-mail|Link|Comments (1)Posted by Michael J Bailey March 24, 2010 05:06 PM

Senator John F. Kerry said today he intends to hold preliminary hearings on an emerging nuclear arms treaty after Easter recess, with the goal of ratifying it by the end of the year.

Negotiators from the United States and Russia have reached agreement on a treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Associated Press reported today, citing unnamed officials. The new deal is expected to lower strategic nuclear warheads to about 1,500 for each side, far below the 6,000 allowed under the old treaty, which expired in December. All major issues have been resolved, officials in Washington and Moscow said.

Once signed by President Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, the treaty would face ratification votes in the Russian Duma and the US Senate. Kerry, as head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would be the point person for the administration to get the two-thirds vote needed for ratification from a Senate that is highly charged, both with partisan fervor and with suspicion of Russia.

The Massachusetts senator and his Republican counterpart on the committee, Richard Lugar of Indiana, discussed the treaty with Obama at the White House for about an hour this morning.

"A well-designed treaty will send an important message to the rest of the world that America is prepared to lead efforts with key stakeholders to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons," Kerry said in a statement released after the meeting.

"The administration has done an excellent job advancing America’s security interests and I believe the final product will deserve broad bipartisan support,'' he added.

[karynnj]

1. This really has to be something Kerry will be proud of getting passed

There was some discussion of the treaty in this SFRC hearing - http://foreign.senate.gov/hearings/hearing/20090319/ From the opening statements it is clear that Kerry and Lugar both strongly support this.

(For RW defense - Who started the START negotiations for what is now called START 1 - Ronald Reagan, and GHWB signed it into law.)