The New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), signed by President Obama and Russian President Medvedev on April 8th, puts us back on track for binding agreements to reduce the threat of nuclear annihilation. The treaty limits the number of deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 per country, and the number of delivery vehicles to 700 per country. It establishes the most extensive verification process ever agreed upon by the two nations, including 18 on-site inspections per side per year, and, for the first time, direct inspections of the weapons themselves. This is far from nuclear abolition, but it is an important step toward nuclear arms control.
As Secretary of Defense Robert Gates argues: "The U.S. is far better off with this treaty than without it. It strengthens the security of the U.S. and our allies and promotes strategic stability between the world's two major nuclear powers."
It is critical that the U.S. Senate ratify the treaty as soon as possible. The treaty has been well received by Democrats and Republicans alike in the hearings so far, with one major, and dangerous, concession demanded to secure the needed 67 votes: an $80 billion commitment (not part of the treaty itself) to "modernize" our nuclear weapons over the next ten years. Any such modernization must be limited, as Obama promised, to simply maintaining existing weapons and not developing any new warheads--no new designs, no new missions, no new military capabilities for our nuclear weapons.
Urge them to vote to ratify the New START treaty. Let them know that the treaty is just the next logical step in reigning in nuclear proliferation, and that you want them to keep working to reduce the arsenal further. Emphasize that "modernization" must not be a cover for developing new nuclear weapons of any kind: how can we convince any other country to stop its nuclear development if we do not stop our own?
Contact both your U.S. Senators:
Telephone: Call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121, ask for your Senator's office, and once there, ask for her/his legislative aide on defense issues and leave your message with that aide.
Email: Click through to your Senator's website using www.senate.gov and leave a message.
Write: Send a postcard to: Senator (first & last name), U.S. Senate, Washington D.C. 20510. (Postcards won't be delayed like envelopes will in the check for dangerous substances).
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