Senate Must Do More Homework on New START

James Carafano / September 21, 2010

In her recent op-ed, Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D–NH) expresses her favorable opinion about the New START Treaty that was voted out of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. However, the op-ed, as well as the committee vote, raises more questions than answers.

First, there were only 12 open and classified hearings examining the implications of New START for the national security of the United States. And as usual, the devil is in the details—with more than 20 witnesses, the minority was only allowed to hear testimony from three of its choices. It is very difficult to argue, therefore, that the committee had enough information to give the treaty its fiduciary due diligence, and even more difficult to argue that the treaty is ready for the Senate floor. (more…)