Republicans fail to amend arms pact with Russia
Democrats have been pushing to pass the treaty before the new Congress stakes office because their Senate majority was reduced from 58 to 42 and 53 to 47. The treaty could also face weeks of delay as new lawmakers get up to speed on the issue.
DEMOCRATS MOVED on Sunday (December 19), to bring President Barack Obama's strategic nuclear arms treaty with Russia to a final vote in the Senate this week but rising Republican anger over partisanship threatened to derail the accord.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took steps to limit debate on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) treaty and force a vote by Thursday (December 23), before lawmakers break for Christmas, a move that could further upset Republicans frustrated by the rush to push through bills in the final days of the legislative session.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Sunday they would vote against the pact, in part because they feel the Democrats' crowded legislative agenda has left little room for debate.
"If you really want to have a chance of passing START, you'd better start over and do it in the next Congress because this lame-duck has been poisoned," Graham said, referring to the legislative session that followed the November congressional elections.
Graham, who joined Democrats in voting to bring the treaty to a debate in the Senate, told CBS's ‘Face the Nation’ programme, "I am not going to vote for START," in the current legislative session that ends in early January. He had been considered a potential supporter of the accord.
Democrats have been pushing to pass the treaty before the new Congress stakes office because their Senate majority was reduced from 58 to 42 and 53 to 47. The treaty could also face weeks of delay as more than a dozen new lawmakers get up to speed on the issue.
The treaty needs 67 votes for approval in the 100-member Senate. It moved to the Senate floor for debate with a two-thirds majority that included Graham. The senator's decision to vote against it raised questions about whether Democrats could ultimately muster the votes for passage.
Enough votes?
But Vice President Joe Biden and other top Democrats expressed confidence they would ultimately have the votes to approve the pact. Asked on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ programme if Democrats had the votes, Biden said, "I believe we do."
The new START, signed by Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, would require the former Cold War adversaries to cut deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 each within seven years.
It also would reduce the number of deployed strategic missiles and bombers to 700 for each side and establish a verification and inspection system to ensure they abide by terms of the agreement.
Debate on the treaty was expected to continue at least through Tuesday (December 21), with Republicans planning to seek additional changes to both the treaty and the accompanying resolution of ratification.
Republican Senators concerned about the large disparity in tactical, short-range nuclear weapons between Russia and the United States rallied behind a treaty-killing amendment on Sunday that would have inserted a reference to the issue in the preamble of the accord. The amendment was defeated 60-32.
Democratic Senator Robert Casey said members of both parties were concerned about Russian tactical nuclear weapons but there was a simple reason the new START nuclear treaty didn’t address them -- because it is an agreement dealing with strategic, or long-range, atomic arms.
Russia is believed to have about 2,000 deployed tactical nuclear weapons, versus 500 for the United States, according to the Federation of American Scientists. The United States lawmakers fear the weapons are less securely stored and could fall into the hands of extremist groups.
They also fear the Russians are more likely to use them.
"To the Russians, tactical nuclear weapons are a battlefield weapon just like artillery," said Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who has been a critic of the START agreement. "Their military doctrine is to actually use those weapons."
Kyl said that US negotiators should have used Russian interest in a new treaty on strategic weapons as leverage to get them to commit to talks on shorter-range nuclear arms.
"I don't know whether it was because of a lack of direction from the commander-in-chief or poor negotiation, but one way or another we got snookered," Kyl said. "We got snookered on missile defense. ... We got snookered on tactical nuclear weapons. We got snookered on verification."
Democratic Senator John Kerry, who as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee led the floor debate, said passage of START was a prerequisite for beginning talks on tactical nuclear weapons.
"If we don't pass the START treaty, if we can't reach a bilateral agreement on the reduction of strategic weapons, there will be no discussion about tactical weapons," Kerry said. "That is as plain as day."
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Lindsey Graham announced on Sunday they would vote against the pact, in part because they feel the Democrats' crowded legislative agenda has left little room for debate.
"If you really want to have a chance of passing START, you'd better start over and do it in the next Congress because this lame-duck has been poisoned," Graham said, referring to the legislative session that followed the November congressional elections.
Graham, who joined Democrats in voting to bring the treaty to a debate in the Senate, told CBS's ‘Face the Nation’ programme, "I am not going to vote for START," in the current legislative session that ends in early January. He had been considered a potential supporter of the accord.
Democrats have been pushing to pass the treaty before the new Congress stakes office because their Senate majority was reduced from 58 to 42 and 53 to 47. The treaty could also face weeks of delay as more than a dozen new lawmakers get up to speed on the issue.
The treaty needs 67 votes for approval in the 100-member Senate. It moved to the Senate floor for debate with a two-thirds majority that included Graham. The senator's decision to vote against it raised questions about whether Democrats could ultimately muster the votes for passage.
Enough votes?
But Vice President Joe Biden and other top Democrats expressed confidence they would ultimately have the votes to approve the pact. Asked on NBC's ‘Meet the Press’ programme if Democrats had the votes, Biden said, "I believe we do."
The new START, signed by Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April, would require the former Cold War adversaries to cut deployed strategic nuclear warheads to no more than 1,550 each within seven years.
It also would reduce the number of deployed strategic missiles and bombers to 700 for each side and establish a verification and inspection system to ensure they abide by terms of the agreement.
Debate on the treaty was expected to continue at least through Tuesday (December 21), with Republicans planning to seek additional changes to both the treaty and the accompanying resolution of ratification.
Republican Senators concerned about the large disparity in tactical, short-range nuclear weapons between Russia and the United States rallied behind a treaty-killing amendment on Sunday that would have inserted a reference to the issue in the preamble of the accord. The amendment was defeated 60-32.
Democratic Senator Robert Casey said members of both parties were concerned about Russian tactical nuclear weapons but there was a simple reason the new START nuclear treaty didn’t address them -- because it is an agreement dealing with strategic, or long-range, atomic arms.
Russia is believed to have about 2,000 deployed tactical nuclear weapons, versus 500 for the United States, according to the Federation of American Scientists. The United States lawmakers fear the weapons are less securely stored and could fall into the hands of extremist groups.
They also fear the Russians are more likely to use them.
"To the Russians, tactical nuclear weapons are a battlefield weapon just like artillery," said Republican Senator Jon Kyl, who has been a critic of the START agreement. "Their military doctrine is to actually use those weapons."
Kyl said that US negotiators should have used Russian interest in a new treaty on strategic weapons as leverage to get them to commit to talks on shorter-range nuclear arms.
"I don't know whether it was because of a lack of direction from the commander-in-chief or poor negotiation, but one way or another we got snookered," Kyl said. "We got snookered on missile defense. ... We got snookered on tactical nuclear weapons. We got snookered on verification."
Democratic Senator John Kerry, who as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee led the floor debate, said passage of START was a prerequisite for beginning talks on tactical nuclear weapons.
"If we don't pass the START treaty, if we can't reach a bilateral agreement on the reduction of strategic weapons, there will be no discussion about tactical weapons," Kerry said. "That is as plain as day."
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
Not finding what you are looking for? Search here.
