Top Republicans are urging their colleagues in the Senate to put off consideration of the Obama administrationÂ’s new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia until troublesome issues involving verification and limits imposed on U.S. missile defenses can be aired and debated properly next year.
“If the American people understood what was in this treaty, they would be deeply disturbed,” says Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina.
DeMint, who voiced that warning at a conference of the Independent Working Group on missile defense, has joined Sens. Jon Kyl of Arizona and Kit Bond of Missouri in arguing for a full debate on the STrategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) when the Senate reconvenes next year.
In a floor statement last month, Bond said classified documents from the administration that he had reviewed as vice chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee disturbed him so much that he was urging his colleagues to reject the treaty outright.
“I have written a classified letter summarizing my views that is available to all members in Senate security,” he said. “I urge them to read it.”
The classified record made it clear that the treaty cannot be verified Bond said.
In addition, “the Russians will actually be allowed to increase their deployed [nuclear] forces because they currently fall below the treaty’s limits. This raises a crucial question; exactly what does the United States gain from this treaty in exchange for a one-sided reduction in our deployed [nuclear] forces?” Bond said.
Beyond that, the treaty includes limits on U.S. missile defenses that will put America at jeopardy in the future.
“I have not heard any reasonable explanation for why we would give Russia this lever to use against our legitimate and necessary right to defend ourselves against ballistic missile attack,” Bond said.
The Obama administration has turned to a stable of former Reagan and Bush administration officials to spur Republicans to support quick ratification of the Treaty during the lame duck session this month.
Despite the DemocratsÂ’59-seat majority in the outgoing Senate, the administration needs Republican support because treaties must be ratified by a two-thirds vote, requiring the approval of 67 senators. That means they need to pick up the votes of eight Republicans.
Former Republican Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, James Baker III, Colin Powell, and George Shultz have all urged rapid ratification of the Treaty.
But on Monday, another set of former Reagan administration national security officials released a letter at a Capitol Hill news conference warning of the treatyÂ’s deficiencies and urging the Senate to reject it.
Spearheaded by former national security adviser William P. Clark and former Attorney General Edwin Meese III, the signatories warned that the New START is “not consistent with the national security interests of the United States,” because it would give the Russians a strategic advantage while the United States is getting nothing in return.
Senate Republicans Urge Proper Debate on New START