While some in the
administration suggest that the ratification vote could be held before
the Senators break for the elections on October 8, a more likely outcome
is that if it is voted upon, the vote will occur in a potential lame
duck session after the midterm elections, as committee chair John Kerry
has suggested. Kerry indicated
that this might take some of the politics out of Senate consideration
of the treaty. Between now and the vote there will be a cavalcade of
articles, blog posts, phone calls and editorials written for and against
ratification.

In the 111th Congress is has been difficult to
read the tea leaves in the Senate. The vote on Thursday gives some
indication of where things are going regarding START ratification.
Olivier Knox from Agence France-Presse reported that
Senator Lugar's (R-IN) resolution replaced Senator Kerry's draft and
passed in a voice vote with the only nay being Senator Risch (R-ID).
Senator Barrasso (R-WY) introduced an amendment to remove all mention of
the words “missile defense” from the treaty. This in effect would have
killed New START and sent it back to negotiations with the Russian
Federation. The vote on this amendment was 13-6 against the Barrasso
amendment and that is an indication of the Republican position. The
final vote of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was 14-4 with all
Democrats voting for the resolution along with Republican Senators Lugar
(R-IN), Corker (R-TN) and Isakson (R-GA). Senator DeMint (R-SC) did not
vote and his Republican colleagues Barrasso (R-WY), Wicker (R-MS),
Inhofe (R-OK) and Risch (R-ID) voted nay. This vote is a bellwether, but
any of the senators could change their vote when the full senate
debates ratification of New START.

Blog for Iowa has written
extensively about nuclear disarmament over the past year. Now is the
time for our readers to write Senators Grassley and Harkin to ask them
to vote for ratification of the New START Treaty. Senator Harkin has
previously expressed his support for the treaty. Senator Grassley states
he is undecided at this time. Click to send a message to Grassley and Harkin.

The
United States has a legal obligation to eliminate all of its nuclear
weapons as party to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Entry
into force of the New START Treaty is a crucial step along the path to a
world free of nuclear weapons and the if the full Senate fails to
ratify the treaty, progress may be blocked for an indefinite period of
time. Approval by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is an important
milestone, but our support for ratification by the full senate is
needed in the weeks ahead.