New Arms-Reduction Treaty Requires U.S. Senate Approval

By Merle David Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer
March 29, 2010

Washington — After President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev sign a new arms-reduction treaty in a Prague ceremony April 8, the treaty will face scrutiny in the U.S. Senate and Russian Duma for final approval.

No one expects the process to be brief or without considerable debate. But while some in the Senate are concerned about potential limitations on missile defense, Obama administration officials are confident that these concerns have been adequately addressed in the treaty. Officials have said the planned U.S. missile defense network in Europe is limited in scope and not intended to pose a threat to Russia.

Senator Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona and a leading advocate of missile defense, told reporters recently that there should be no links between reducing nuclear weapons and a planned missile defense system for Europe. The system is intended for use against rogue states that may use the weapons as a threat against allies in Europe.

“I’m looking forward to working with the administration, to evaluate it and discuss it with my colleagues, deal with it when it comes before the Senate, in a few months,” Kyl said in a press conference March 26. Kyl and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, had sent a letter to the president saying that it would be difficult to support the treaty if it included any limits on the missile defense system.

Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher, who is responsible for arms control and international security issues, said at a State Department briefing March 29 that “there is no limit on what the United States can do with its missile defense system.”

“There are no limits to our ability to put the phased adaptive approach forward and the other systems that we have worked on in the past,” she said.

The new treaty is designed to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), which expired in December 2009.

During a March 26 White House briefing, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the Senate has overwhelmingly approved arms control treaties it has considered most recently, and this new treaty should have broad support among senators.

The U.S. Constitution requires that for any treaty to be ratified, it must be approved by at least a two-thirds vote of the Senate — 67 of 100 senators. The process of approval is known as “advise and consent.”

“We’re going to engage deeply and broadly with all of the members of the Senate. And we’re also informing members of the [U.S. House of Representatives] as well,” Clinton said.

The Senate ratified the 1988 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev by a 93–5 vote. The Senate approved the 1991 START I signed by President George H.W. Bush and Gorbachev by 93–6, and the 2002 Moscow Treaty signed by President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin by 95–0.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters at the White House briefing that during intensive, yearlong talks with the Russian negotiating team, there have also been continuing consultations with the Congress.

“Two of the areas that have been of concern in the Senate, among senators, are, are we protecting our ability to go forward with missile defense, and are we going to make the investment in our nuclear infrastructure so that the [U.S.] stockpile will remain reliable and safe,” Gates said. “I think we have addressed the concerns that there may have been on the Hill [Capitol Hill, the location of the U.S. Congress] and so I echo the sentiments of Secretary Clinton, that I think the prospects are quite good.”

In announcing the treaty, Obama told reporters he is looking forward to working with Congress. Earlier in the week, the president held an hourlong briefing with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry and Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the committee, in the White House.

CONGRESSIONAL RESPONSE

The White House will send the signed treaty to the Senate where it will be sent to the Foreign Relations Committee for hearings and a vote on sending it on for full consideration by the Senate.

“As soon as the president sends the agreement to the Senate, we will appeal to all our colleagues to set aside preconceptions and partisanship and consider the treaty on its merits,” Kerry said. “We can’t squander this opportunity to reset both our relations with Russia and our role as the world leader on nuclear nonproliferation.”

Lugar, who is considered one of the leading experts in the Senate on nuclear arms control, said that he is looking forward to “hearings and briefings for the Foreign Relations Committee so that we can work quickly to achieve ratification of the new treaty.”

“I commend the U.S. and Russian delegations for months of dedicated effort,” Lugar added.

In addition to missile defense, senators will be examining the verification process, an essential element of any arms control measure.