At today's ACA / Böll Foundation event, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller delivered the keynote address. She focused on the New START agreement, both making the case for its prompt ratification in the post-election session and providing an assessment of where the process stands now. Among the points she raised were:
On the question of the politics of ratification, she said that the administration remains "optimistic." She pointed to last week's statements from President Obama and Secretary Clinton as evidence that New START is still a very high priority issue for the White House. She stated that the administration is confident that it has the votes to obtain the Senate's advice and consent for ratification; it is simply a matter of when the Senate leadership will allow it to come up for a vote.