L.K.Eder
unbannable non-troll
What Mr. Kyl did not mention is that there have already been countless briefings and 21 Senate hearings on the treaty sufficient for Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, the countrys top military leaders, six former secretaries of state (from both parties), five former secretaries of defense (from both parties) and seven former nuclear weapons commanders to endorse it.
As for concerns about modernization, President Obama has already promised an extra $84 billion over 10 years to modernize the nations nuclear weapons complex and its arsenal. That would raise spending 20 percent above the levels of the Bush years and is far more than we think is necessary
Senate panel OKs new arms treaty with Russia | Reuters
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The document Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed in April commits former Cold War foes Washington and Moscow to reduce deployed nuclear warheads by about 30 percent.
It picked up Republican support in the committee from Senators Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson. They voted yes along with Richard Lugar, the committee's top-ranking Republican.
But since treaties need 67 votes to pass the full Senate, support of at least eight Republicans will be required. Most Republicans have remained uncommitted for months, leaving the treaty's fate in limbo.
Still, arms control advocates said Thursday's committee vote was encouraging. "Bipartisan support is growing, momentum is picking up," said Tom Collina, research director for the Arms Control Association in Washington.
Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton applauded the committee vote and urged the Senate to quickly ratify the treaty.
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The treaty is broadly supported as an important step forward in arms control by former senior security officials from both Republican and Democratic administrations.
But some Republican senators say they worry it may limit U.S. missile defenses, and some want Obama to promise to spend more money modernizing the nuclear weapons that remain.
The committee passed a resolution to try to assuage these concerns, without actually changing the treaty text.
Written by Lugar, the resolution declared that the treaty does not "impose any limitations on the deployment of missile defense" apart from one clause banning the use of missile silos or submarine launch tubes to house missile interceptors.
The resolution also said that if the government doesn't adequately fund nuclear modernization, the president must report to Congress how he would remedy the shortfall -- and whether it was still in U.S. interests to stay in the treaty.
At the insistence of Republican Jim DeMint, the committee adopted another declaration that the United States was free to develop its missile defenses. But DeMint was absent for the final vote on the treaty.
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