Today on the Senate floor, John Kerry (D-MA) informed 15,304,498 voters from 16 states that their democratic voice is better left unheard. Kerry’s remarks came during a speech in which he urged the ratification of the ill-conceived New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) with Russia. Kerry and other Senate liberals are striving to ratify the treaty during this winter’s lame duck session, the last chance for Senators who have received their walking orders from the voters to pass the kind of legislation that got them kicked out of Washington in …
In his most recent op-ed, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, asks why there is a rush to pass New START, a strategic offensive arms control treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation signed this April in Prague. Romney rightly observes that the treaty “deserves a careful, deliberative look by the men and women America has just elected.” If the Administration and Senate leadership push for a vote on New START during the lame duck session, the Senate would not have time to adequately evaluate it, especially …
With concern over the arms control agreement President Obama signed with Russia growing, those pushing for ratification are devising increasingly far-fetched reasons why the Senate should rubber-stamp New START rather than give the treaty the serious and deliberate scrutiny a nuclear arms deal deserves. From the beginning, arguments for the treaty have sounded like scare tactics, an impression only reinforced by the recent allegations that New START will compromise national security. In his most recent effort to drum up support for the treaty, William Hartung asserted in the Daily Caller …
Sen. Kerry (D–MA), Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, took to the pages of U.S. News and World Report again trying to make the case for ratification of the New START treaty. He continues to tow the Administration line in attempts to demonstrate how the treaty is in the national security interest of the U.S. After posing a series of questions, he concludes, saying, “The opponents of New START cannot provide good answers to these questions. All they can do is stand in the way of common sense—and of our …
If the Senate doesn’t ratify New START, proponents of the arms-control agreement fear, then … well, the world will come to end. The latest warning came from Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, a foundation that advocates a nuclear weapons-free world. “A delayed ratification with a close vote would be a blow to U.S. leadership around the world,” he told the Associated Press, “People would doubt the president’s ability to negotiate other agreements.” More pressure to just “sign the treaty so we can purge the world of nuclear weapons” …
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on Tuesday on the implementation of the New START Treaty. Two weeks ago, Sen. John Kerry (D–MA) wrote in an op-ed that given all the testimony there was a clear record in favor of treaty ratification. However, had Sen. Kerry waited for the statements of The Honorable James Miller, Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and General Kevin P. Chilton, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, he may have been a little more hesitant to make such a proclamation. Dr. Miller and …
Senator Carl Levin (D–MI), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released an op-ed last week arguing that the new START Treaty is good for the U.S. and the world. This follows similar op-eds from Sen. John Kerry (D–MA) and Sen. Richard Lugar (R–IN). Given the number of such publications over the past couple of weeks, it is becoming clear that this treaty is finally getting the level of attention it deserves. It is also becoming increasingly evident that this Administration is worried the opposition voice is growing stronger. In …
In the midst of a crisis in the Gulf, some Senators are making a final push to pass energy and climate legislation this year. Senators John Kerry (D–MA) and Joe Lieberman (I–CT) are introducing a scaled-back version of their original cap-and-trade bill but still want to maintain a carbon cap. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D–NV) wants to bring an energy bill up for debate the week of July 26 that addresses the oil spill response and a greenhouse gas reduction plan for utilities only. A draft leaked from Senator …
In a week dominated by new START op-eds, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) penned another piece supporting treaty ratification while rejecting the arguments of former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA) from earlier this week. This follows the article by Senator Kerry (D-MA) also in support of new START. For Sen. Kerry opposing the treaty is “political,” for Sen. Lugar the arguments of Romney were “hyperbolic. Getting down to the sheer facts of the matter, however, make it clear that opposing the treaty is simply in the best interest of United States security. …
Congress must ratify the New START pact quickly, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) asserts in The Washington Post. Why? Because “Every day without its verification regime is a day without a clear view of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.” But if Sen. Kerry wants to keep tabs on what Russia’s doing with its nuclear arsenal, he needs to come up with something other than the New START. As Paula A. DeSutter, the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation, noted in a July 6 Heritage Foundation lecture on the …
