On the recordDecember 16, 2010
I am here to join my colleagues who believe that now is the time to ratify the New START treaty. The New START treaty is a continuation of a long history of bipartisan arms control cooperation and it is the culmination of President Ronald Reagan's consistent appeal, as mentioned in previous remarks, to trust, but verify when we are dealing with Russia. At a time when much of America is fed up with this body's inability to work in a bipartisan fashion, I hope we can still work across the aisle to strengthen America's national security and deal with the threat that is posed by nuclear weapons. I certainly applaud the leadership of Senator Kerry and Senator Lugar and the work they have done on this issue heading the Foreign Relations Committee. Much like previous arms control treaties, including the old START treaty signed by President George H.W. Bush and the SORT treaty signed by President George W. Bush, the New START treaty is squarely in the national security interests of the United States. The New START treaty will reduce the limit of strategic nuclear arms aimed at the United States. The United States and Russia will be bound to a lower number of nuclear weapons, which will be 30 percent fewer than the current limits under the SORT treaty. The treaty's new rules allow us to count Russia's nuclear weapons more accurately.
