On the recordDecember 15, 2010
as chairman of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, I would like to address the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty--called New START--that is now before the Senate for ratification. This treaty has been carefully vetted. I am confident the Senate will come to the conclusion that this treaty is in our national interest and will cast the necessary votes for ratification. I strongly support ratification. Before speaking about intelligence issues related to this treaty, it is important to remind ourselves about the extraordinary, lethal nature of these nuclear weapons. I was 12 years old when atomic bombs flattened both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Hiroshima bomb, estimated to have been 21 kilotons, killed 70,000 people outright. You can see from this chart the absolute devastation this bomb caused in Hiroshima. The Nagasaki bomb, at 15 kilotons--somewhat less--killed at least 40,000 people immediately. Another 100,000 or so who survived the initial blasts died of injuries and radiation sickness. By the end of 1945, an estimated 220,000 people had lost their lives because of these two bombs. The horrible images of disfigured bodies and devastating ruins have stayed with me all my life.
