Obama Seeks US-Russia Arms Treaty Vote

U.S. President Barack Obama says he wants the U.S. Senate to ratify a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, known as START, before lawmakers adjourn at the end of the year, to avoid it going to next year’s new Senate, in which Republicans will have more power.

Mr. Obama told reporters Thursday that the issue has traditionally received bipartisan support. He said ratification would send a strong signal to Russia that the U.S. is serious about reducing nuclear arsenals.

A spokesman for the president’s National Security Council, Mike Hammer, told reporters Thursday that Mr. Obama wants to ensure the ratification of the treaty. When asked how more Republicans in Congress would affect foreign policy in general, Hammer said both Republicans and Democrats want to ensure the protection of the American people and a better future.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Thursday that the last U.S. president to call for a world without nuclear weapons, before Mr. Obama did so in 2009, was Republican Ronald Reagan, who held office from 1981 to 1989. He said that indicates that the issue has support across party lines.

Russian reports said Wednesday that the international committee of Russia’s State Duma, or lawmaking body, has withdrawn its recommendation that Russian lawmakers ratify the treaty. The move is seen as a signal of concern about the U.S. Senate’s ability to get the treaty ratified.

Hammer said Thursday that he will not comment on the Duma committee action.

The START treaty could face much more opposition in the Senate if lawmakers wait to vote on the issue until after an influx of new senators, including several more Republicans, take their seats in Congress in January. Members of the party have expressed concerns about the treaty limiting U.S. missile defense efforts or the modernization of the American nuclear arsenal.

The START treaty would cut by 30 percent the number of strategic nuclear weapons that Moscow and Washington can deploy. It needs a two-thirds majority, or 67 votes, for ratification in the Senate.

While the new balance of power in Congress could have an impact on a number of foreign policy issues, most analysts expect there will be little effect on the president’s policy on the war in Afghanistan.