More Senators Against The New START Vote In The Lame Duck

Baker Spring / November 16, 2010

There has been increasing opposition from Republican Senators to vote for New START, a nuclear strategic offensive arms control agreement with the Russian Federation, during the upcoming lame duck session of the Congress. Most recently, their ranks were joined by Senator Bob Corker (R-TN), whose chief of staff, Todd Womack, stated that “Senator Corker believes it is far more appropriate to deal with major pieces of legislation like this in settings other than a lame duck session.”

Senator Corker is right. There are substantive issues in the treaty that need to be resolved. Of the major nuclear arms control treaties between the United States and the Soviet Union and later the Russian Federation, none have been voted on in the U.S. Senate during a lame duck session. The vote in the lame duck session would not give newly seated Senators time to become educated on the content of the treaty. On the other hand, the treaty would be returned to the Committee upon the expiration of the current Congress and would provide more time for Senators to give due diligence to New START. (more…)