In the contentious wind-down of the lame duck session of Congress, two bills that easily should be passed hang in the balance in the Senate.
One would ratify the new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia, which President Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed in April, to replace the START I treaty that lapsed last December. The other is the DREAM Act, which would allow undocumented immigrants brought to America as innocent children to attend college and serve in the military as part of process by which they could earn legal residency.
Sen. Bob Corker, who has intensely studied both issues and has a generally positive view of both pieces of legislation, could play a key role in overcoming the partisan maneuvering that wrongly has many Republicans threatening to kill these bills. We urge him, and also Sen. Lamar Alexander, to join other Republicans who generally advocate the goals of each to assist in their passage.