WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Senate today voted to ratify the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), a nuclear arms control pact with Russia to reduce the number of nuclear warheads and delivery systems and provide for thorough on-the-ground inspections.

The New START treaty was signed by President Obama and Russian President Medvedev on April 8, 2010, and replaces the START treaty that expired on December 5, 2009.

U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a member of the Armed Services Committee and strong supporter of the treaty, issued the following statement:

“This treaty is essential to the security of the United States.  It continues the work of many previous administrations over several decades to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons.  Unchecked stockpiles of nuclear weapons, particularly if they could fall into the hands of terrorists, pose the greatest threat to the United States.

“Having expert American weapon inspectors on the ground in Russia will help make our nation and the world safer.  It will help free up critical intelligence assets, such as satellites, which are already in high demand, particularly in our operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as in emerging threat locations such as Yemen, Somalia, and the Pacific.

“I commend Chairman Kerry and Senator Lugar for their leadership and efforts to get the backing of a strong, bipartisan majority of support for this agreement.

“Virtually every living president, secretary of state, and national security advisor from both Democratic and Republican administrations, along with our top military commanders, concurred that this treaty makes us safer without surrendering any of our national defense capabilities. 

“The seven previous commanders of STRATCOM -- military officers whose professional lives have been devoted to protecting America and commanding every unit that has a nuclear capability -- all urged us to support this New START treaty.  That is a very strong endorsement as to the effectiveness of this treaty and the need for this treaty. All of them understand this is in our best national security interest. 

“And I am pleased that today the Senate approved New START.”

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