Blog for Iowa Attends START Treaty Briefing
by Paul Deaton(Editor's
Note: The author had an opportunity to participate in a State
Department briefing regarding the New START Treaty between the United
States and the Russian Federation this week. Iowa's Senator Tom Harkin has declared his intention to support ratification of the treaty, Senator Grassley has not. The treaty is one of three priorities for a lame duck session of the Senate after the elections).
During a conference call for Non-governmental organizations this week, Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance,
gave a brief statement and took questions about the New START Treaty
between the United States and the Russian Federation. Ms. Gottemoeller
was a principal during the negotiations and after a year of tough
negotiations with the Russians, she and her staff have had a tough year
of answering some 950 queries from Senate members. Gottemoeller said
this was a “very busy summer, involving a great deal of work getting
information in front of Senators.” She is “feeling very good about the
prospects” for ratification of the treaty.
Gottemoeller was
heartened by the fact that Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL)
indicated that ratification of New START is one of three top issues
Democrats expect to take up during a lame duck session after the
November election and before the 112th Congress is sworn in. (The other
two are an omnibus spending bill and the expiring Bush Tax cuts).
Gottemoeller said she felt ratification of New START and entry into
force was an “extraordinary priority goal because of verification.” It
will have been a year since the previous START Treaty expired and we
“need to get our boots back on the ground in the Russian Federation.”
If
those closest to Arms Control, Verification and Compliance feel a sense
of urgency about gaining the Senate's advice and consent on the treaty
and entry into force, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) expressed concern
that we may be proceeding too quickly towards ratification. In a
September 27, 2010 letter to a constituent, Grassley wrote, “In our
desire to rid the globe of these weapons, we must not succumb to the
temptation to act hastily and, in the process, jeopardize the security
of the U.S. and our allies.” Grassley is important because ratification
requires a two thirds vote in the Senate, and that means some
Republicans need to vote for ratification along with Democrats,
Independents and Republican Dick Lugar (R-IN), ranking member of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who have indicated their support for
ratification.
Gottemoeller indicated that part of the resistance
expressed by some members is the level of knowledge about the treaty
and its meaning for the nuclear complex. This may be Grassley's concern.
According to Gottemoeller, some key concerns persist: 1). New START
constrains missile defense. (It doesn't). 2). What hidden deals were
made to finalize negotiations? (According to Gottemoeller, “what you see
is what you get, there are no hidden deals.”) 3). Modernization of the
nuclear complex. (The administration has ponied up $80 billion, about which Linton Brooks said, “You know I would have killed for that
budget back when I was the administrator of that program,” according to
Gottemoeller).
The questioners on the call were people more
likely to seek complete abolition of nuclear weapons rather than the
modest progress reflected by the New START Treaty. One hopes Senator
Grassley will study up on the treaty, as almost every question asked has
been answered and a broad bipartisan consensus has been building that
New START is good for the national security of the United States and its
allies. We urge Senator Grassley to vote for ratification when the New
START Treaty is considered by the Senate.
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. E-mail Paul
Deaton
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