For immediate release: May 18, 2010
Media contacts: Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director, (202) 463-8270 x107; Tom Z. Collina, Research Director, (202) 463-8270 x104; Greg Thielmann, Senior Fellow, (202) 463-8270 x103
(Washington, D.C.) The Senate Foreign Relations Committee formally begins consideration today of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) following its official submission to the Senate last week for advice and consent. President Obama has called for the treaty to be approved before the November elections; a busy Senate schedule makes the actual timing unclear.
New START would replace the 1991 START treaty, which expired last December, and continue the bipartisan process of verifiably reducing U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals begun by former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Once ratified by both nations, New START would be the first verifiable arms reduction treaty to take effect since 1994. New START would significantly reduce the nuclear threat from Russia, provide transparency and predictability about Russian strategic forces, and bolster U.S. efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons to additional states and terrorist groups.
The Arms Control Association (ACA) has been tracking New START’s progress over the past year and has produced a variety of in-depth resources and analyses on the treaty. Links to our most up-to-date resources are below.
Online Resources, Analysis, and Documentation from ACA
"Next Steps on New START," Focus editorial by Daryl G. Kimball in Arms Control Today, April 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_04/Focus
“New START: Good News for U.S. Security,” feature article by Brooking’s Steven Pifer, former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, May 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_05/Pifer
“New START Signed; Senate Battle Looms,” review of latest developments on the treaty and a summary of its key provisions by Research Director Tom Collina, May 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_05/NewSTART
“New START Verification, Up to the Challenge,” ACA Threat Assessment Brief by Senior Fellow Greg Thielmann, May 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/system/files/TAB_NewSTARTVerification_UptotheChallenge.pdf
U.S. Government Perspectives
New START Negotiator and State Dept. Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller Speaks to ACA Annual Meeting, April 26, 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/events/GottemoellerRemarksAnnualMtg
Transcript of ACA Annual Meeting, Next Steps on Nuclear Weapons Threat Reduction, April 26, 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/events/AnnualMtg2010transcript
Fact Sheets
“U.S.-Russian Nuclear Arms Control Agreements at a Glance,” ACA summary of arms control agreements from SALT to New START, May 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_05/NewSTART#sidebar
“Nuclear Weapons "Modernization" Myths and Realities,” ACA summary of U.S. nuclear weapons modernization programs, May 2010: http://www.armscontrol.org/issuebriefs/modernizationmyths
Official Treaty Documentation
Full text of New START: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/140035.pdf
State Dept. Article-by-Article Analysis: http://www.state.gov/t/vci/trty/141829.htm