Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved by voice vote a resolution for advice and consent for ratification of Defense Trade Cooperation Treaties with Australia and the United Kingdom as well as legislation to implement them. Experts at the nonpartisan Arms Control Association (ACA) recommended today that the full Senate indefinitely defer consideration of these treaties.
As the world’s top conventional arms exporter with one of the most robust export control systems, the
Experts from the Arms Control Association joined with leaders of 31 national organizations urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to take a bold approach in preparatory committee meetings on a legally binding arms trade treaty (ATT) set to begin next week.
By Paul Holtom and Mark Bromley - There is disagreement on which goods and activities are part of the arms trade, and reporting is uneven. Nevertheless, available data illustrate the need for stronger controls.
Remarks by Amb. Roberto Garcia Moritan, Anna MacDonald, and Amb. Don Mahley (on behalf of Under Secretary of State Ellen Tauscher)
The United States last month pledged its support for talks on a legally binding instrument to regulate the global trade of conventional arms, breaking with previous U.S. votes against the United Nations-led process. UN member states are now expected to approve a schedule that could see an arms trade treaty (ATT) negotiated in 2012.
Arms control experts welcomed yesterday's statement by the United States supporting a legally binding treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons. The United States was the only country to vote against two previous UN resolutions related to the treaty, but yesterday the Obama administration expressed support for a UN process that could lead to negotiation of such a treaty in 2012.(Continue)
To mark the tenth anniversary of the highly successful Mine Ban Treaty, arms control experts are calling on President Obama to get in line with key U.S. allies and the international community by bringing the United States into the agreement. (Continue)