John Barrasso: “I believe this treaty places limitations on the ability of our Nation to defend itself--limitations I believe should not…”

“I believe this treaty places limitations on the ability of our Nation to defend itself--limitations I believe should not be in the treaty. The preamble to the New START treaty provides an explicit link between strategic nuclear offensive weapons and strategic nuclear defensive weapons. It also implies the right of Russia to withdraw from the treaty based on U.S. missile defense that is beyond 'the current strategic capabilities.' Well, by specifying current strategic capabilities, the intent is clear: They are signaling that future U.S. capabilities could pose a problem. Russia does not want us to improve or to expand missile defense capabilities for the United States. For me, this is absolutely unacceptable.”