President to Senate: Ratify New START Treaty

This week, President Obama made another push for ratification of the New START Treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) that he signed with President Medvedev back in April 8th of this year. Here’s a quick recap of what the Treaty entails as well as the politics involved:

The President used this weeks address to both answer the Treaty’s critics, and argue that its ratification is a matter of national security:

“Over the last several months, several questions have been asked about New START, and we have answered every single one. Some have asked whether it will limit our missle defense – it will not. Some, including Senator Jon Kyl, have asked that we modernize our nuclear infrastructure for the 21st century – we are doing so, and plan to invest at least $85 billion in that effort over the next ten years – a significant increase from the Bush Administration. Finally, some make no argument against the Treaty – they just ask for more time. But remember this: it has already been 11 months since we’ve had inspectors in Russia, and every day that goes by without ratification is a day that we lose confidence in our understanding of Russia’s nuclear weapons.

If the Senate doesn’t act this year – after six months, 18 hearings, and nearly a thousand questions answered – it would have to start over from scratch in January. The choice is clear: a failure to ratify new START would be a dangerous gamble with America’s national security, setting back our understanding of Russia’s nuclear weapons, as well as our leadership in the world. That is not what the American people sent us to Washington to do.”

President Obama’s Weekly Address:

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