Washington, DC—After today’s Senate vote, which cleared the way for final passage of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or New START, the Center for American Progress’s President and CEO John Podesta and Distinguished Senior Fellow former U.S. Senator Tom Daschle issued the following statements:
“This is a signature achievement for President Obama. It cements his reset of U.S.-Russia relations, strengthens international non-proliferation efforts, and restores confidence in U.S. global leadership. President Obama and the great champions of New START, Senators John Kerry and Richard Lugar, persevered through bitter conservative opposition and obstruction and secured the votes necessary to ratify New START and make the United States and the world safer,” said CAP’s Podesta.
“I commend the Senate for rising above politics and doing what is so clearly in the national security interests of the United States and our allies by ratifying the New START treaty. This marks a significant step toward achieving President Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons,” said Daschle.
New START verifiably reduces nuclear arsenals on both sides and ensures that post-Cold War nuclear stability between the US and Russia is maintained. It also creates a platform for future arms control negotiations with Russia and encourages greater cooperation to address our shared global challenges.
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