Sen. Corker recently discussed with this page his deep involvement in the hearings on this vital nuclear arms control issue and his hope for ratification of the treaty. His concern, he said, was that the lame-duck session would not allow the focused time and debate that he thinks is needed.
At this point, however, it’s hard to see what purpose more extensive debate would serve. Rather, any delay now seems just an obvious political ploy to cripple President Obama by killing a milestone foreign policy achievement that would embellish his record. That sort of political knee-capping is not in the national interest and should be beneath Republicans.
The Obama administration has engaged in 21 hearings on the treaty, and an impressive, bipartisan array of five former secretaries of state, six former secretaries of defense and a long list of military commanders, including seven former nuclear weapons commanders, have stepped up to endorse ratification of the treaty with Russia. Debate on the treaty has already been longer than that given to a range of other treaties, yet Republicans haven’t offered any amendments or specific criticisms to consider since the substance of the bill was approved in the extensive committee process.
The treaty, building on the reductions of nuclear arms established in the Reagan and Bush 1 eras, would require Russia and the United Sates to reduce their numbers of deployed nuclear warheads from 2,200 to 1,550 each. It also specifies strict verification procedures under which experts from both countries would inspect each other’s nuclear arsenals to confirm compliance.
The Obama administration, moreover, has committed $84.5 billion over the next decade — 20 percent more than his predecessor — to upgrade the U.S. national laboratories and facilities involved in the production of more efficient nuclear weapons to assure the viability of the nation’s nuclear arms inventory. Corker agrees that amount is more than adequate to modernize and guarantee the reliability of the nation’s nuclear capability.