Senate Endorses Nuclear Reductions Treaty; Duma Delays
The U.S. Senate unanimously approved ratification of the Strategic
Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT) March 6, paving the way for U.S.
participation in the pact with Russia to slash nuclear arsenals
by roughly two-thirds over the next decade. Meanwhile, citing disagreement
with the U.S. decision to enter into war with Iraq, the Russian
Duma postponed consideration of the treaty March 18.
Under the treaty, signed by Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir
Putin in May 2002, each side will reduce its deployed strategic
nuclear warheads to 1,700-2,200 by 2012—cutting the present
deployment of 6,000 warheads in each country.
Several Democratic senators strongly criticized the treaty’s
provisions during the floor debate, alleging that the pact contained
serious flaws. Senator John Kerry (D-MA) called SORT “as flimsy
a treaty as the Senate has ever considered.” Senators also
highlighted recent Bush administration nuclear policy changes that,
according to Richard Durbin (D-IL), “threaten to make nuclear
weapons appear to be useful, legitimate, offensive first-strike
weapons.” Even the opponents, however, concurred with Senator
Joseph Biden’s (D-DE) assessment: “The arms reductions
in [SORT] do not go far enough…but they are better than nothing.”
The Senate voted 95-0 to recommend the treaty’s ratification.
Senate critics noted that SORT forgoes several important provisions
contained in prior nuclear arms control agreements. The treaty contains
no additional means of verifying the reductions that each side promises
to make and does not include a schedule for achieving the reductions
by the December 31, 2012, end date. SORT also does not require dismantlement
or elimination of warheads or delivery systems, whereas prior treaties
mandated delivery vehicle destruction. The Bush administration has
indicated that it will take weapons off operational deployment temporarily
or put them in storage in order to meet the treaty’s conditions.
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, praised SORT, saying it is “simple, straight-forward,
and gives each party maximum flexibility.” The agreement demonstrates
the improved relations between Washington and Moscow after the Cold
War, Lugar said, adding, “This treaty utilizes confidence-building
measures based on trust and friendship…. It is a signal that
the hostility of the Cold War has been buried and forgotten.”
Several Democratic senators introduced amendments to help remedy
some of SORT’s perceived shortcomings. An amendment by Senator
Carl Levin (D-MI) required presidential consultation with the Senate
prior to withdrawing from or making a substantive change to the
treaty. In December 2001, Bush withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty without requesting the Senate’s approval, and
critics charged the Senate should be consulted not only on ratification
but also on treaty withdrawal. The amendment lost by a 50-44 vote.
An amendment from Kerry stipulated verification measures and required
the United States to declare its confidence in monitoring Russian
nuclear weapons deployments. Citing recent concerns over protecting
nuclear weapons and materials from transfer to terrorists and adversaries,
Kerry argued that “it is critical we have an understanding,
in order to protect the security interests of our own country, of
our own ability to monitor Russian compliance.” Lugar maintained
that the measures suggested by Kerry are already included as part
of the U.S.-Russian Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program,
which provides U.S. assistance for securing and dismantling Russian
weapons of mass destruction. The proposal was voted down 50-45.
These amendments were defeated after Biden, ranking minority member
of the Foreign Relations Committee, joined Lugar in supporting the
resolution of ratification without further amendments. Biden justified
his votes by saying that he had agreed to oppose changes in return
for White House agreement to back two conditions and eight declarations
the Foreign Relations Committee had added earlier to the resolution
of ratification. As approved, the resolution calls on the president
to report annually on U.S. treaty implementation efforts and provide
an accounting of U.S. assistance to Russia to help secure its nuclear
arsenal in order to meet treaty obligations. (See
ACT, March 2003.)
Despite indications in early March that U.S.-Iraqi tensions would
have no bearing on the treaty’s passage, the Russian Duma deferred
consideration of the ratification bill until after it reconvenes
April 1. Putin submitted an amended ratification bill to the Duma
March 13 for approval after the lower house returned the first Russian
resolution to the president with substantial amendments. Russian
Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said March 26 that Russia should ratify
SORT but not until “the situation around Iraq is solved through
the UN Security Council,” according to the Interfax news agency.
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