Heidi Alexander: “I will offer an amendment at the appropriate time to the resolution of ratification to require an annual update of the…”

“I will offer an amendment at the appropriate time to the resolution of ratification to require an annual update of the 1251 report, which the President's letter says he will do. Under the terms of the treaty, the United States may have 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear weapons, each one up to 30 times more powerful than the one used at Hiroshima to end World War II. The United States will also gain valuable data, including through inspection operations that should provide a treasure trove of intelligence about Russian activities that we would not have without the treaty, and that we have not had since the START treaty expired on December 9, 2009. Over the weekend, the President sent a letter to the Senate reaffirming 'the continued development and deployment of U.S. missile defense systems.' There is nothing within the treaty itself--I emphasize 'nothing in the treaty'--that would hamper the development of missile defense or its deployment. Our military and intelligence leaders all have said that.”