Will Senate Republicans Vote to Ratify the New START Agreement?

When the United States Senate comes back from its summer recess, the most important item on their agenda before the mid-term elections in early November will be the ratification of the New START nuclear reductions agreement with Russia. Because the ratification of a treaty requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate, it will be impossible for the Obama Administration to get this treaty approved without considerable Republican support.

New START would reduce the number of deployed nuclear warheads in both the Russian and American arsenals from 2,200 to 1,550, a decrease of roughly 30%. It would also institute a rigorous system of inspection and verification to reassure each side that the other is living up to its responsibilities under the treaty. It is a very important step on the road to eventual nuclear disarmament, especially as it will set the stage for further talks between Russia and America in the future.

Although the treay is supported by innumerable Republican figures in the diplomatic and military establishment, including such luminaries as Henry Kissinger and George Schultz, there has been chatter that Senate Republicans will seek to defeat the treaty in order to deny President Obama a high profle victory in the weeks leading up to the mid-term elections. It would be a great disgrace if Senate Republicans put partisan politics ahead of the need to safeguard the American people, and the world as a whole, from the nuclear threat.

But the tide may be shiting. Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has come out strongly in favor of the treaty, and Senator Bob Bennett (R-UT) has also hitned that he will vote for ratification. Even those Republican senators who have raised concerns about the treaty, including Bob Corker of Tennessee and John Kyl of Arizona, have suggested that they may vote to ratify if certain concerns of theirs are properly addressed by the President.

According to this NPR story, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is confident of getting significant Republican backing to ratify the treaty, so perhaps we are beginning to see a shift on the Republican side on the aisle towards ratification. If so, it would not only be a considerable victory in the fight for nuclear disamament, but a refreshing case of bipartisanship in what may b the most highly-charged American political environment in recent times.