CLW Community Call on New START: May 13, 2010

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On May 13th, Council for a Livable World members participated in a conference call with Council Executive Director John Isaacs, and chairman of the Council’s sister organization, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, Jr. Isaacs is one of the leaders of the nation’s arms control community and has long been an expert on the workings of Congress. He has represented the Council on Capitol Hill since 1978. Gard’s current work focuses on nuclear non-proliferation, missile defense, Afghanistan, Iran, and other national security issues. Among other accomplishments, during his 31-year military career, Gen. Gard saw combat in both the Korean and Vietnam wars, and also served as Executive Assistant to two secretaries of defense.

The conversation with Gard and Isaacs covered this year’s “Nuclear Spring” and what is to come for New START in Congress.

Summary/Highlights

Over the last several weeks, we have seen important steps forward toward reducing the dangers of nuclear weapons in the 21st century. Since the start of the year, four important developments have taken place:

  • The Nuclear Posture Review, released by the Obama Administration on April 6, focused on preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism and outlined the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy and international stability. The report was entirely unclassified, and elevated to top priority the issue of nuclear weapons.
  • On April 8 the United States and Russia signed the New START agreement, which commits both nations to reducing their numbers of deployed, strategic nuclear weapons. This is an important contribution to increasing transparency and stability between the two nations.
  • The Nuclear Security Summit, which took place April 12-13, convened 47 nations to address the threat of nuclear terrorism.
  • Finally, the NPT Review Conference, currently underway, clarifies that many countries worldwide are committed to nuclear non-proliferation.

After brief introductory remarks, the two experts addressed questions concerning how the next steps will play out.

Treaty Specifics:

General Gard addressed the specifics of the treaty, noting that the number of actual deployed strategic weapons will not change drastically, but that the treaty’s provisions remain important nonetheless. Not covered by the treaty are tactical weapons, which President Obama is seeking to address elsewhere, and missile defense, which Republican opponents often mistakenly fear is limited by New START. Only one provision in START relates to missile defense, and it is relatively meaningless as it addresses a practice that the U.S. has no intention of pursuing. (Wonk alert: The only provision on New START that relates to missile defense limits the conversion of intercontinental ballistic missile silos to missile defense interceptors, and vice versa. As National Security Advisor Gen. Jim Jones has identified, the U.S. would sooner build new ones, which is cheaper than converting them, anyway.)

Ratification:

Isaacs first addressed the ratification process of New START. It has been submitted to the Senate for review and needs 67 votes to pass. Official hearings begin the week of May 18, and optimists can hope for a vote at the end of July. However, the heavy Senate agenda for the next few months will hinder the speed at which debate and a vote can be held. Council for a Livable World is active in the debate though Senate and community outreach and education. While Isaacs expects and hopes that the treaty can be passed this calendar year, CLW is also looking farther down the line, working to elect progressives to the House and Senate in the 2010 elections who will support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. (See our endorsements here.)

Senate Debate:

Isaacs also covered the debate in the Senate, noting that the ranking members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have already expressed their support for New START. The major battle will be led by SFRC Chairman Senator John Kerry (D) and ranking Republican Senator Richard Lugar (R). Senator John Kyl is likely to lead the opposition.

The Larger Context:

Finally, Isaacs and Gard noted the importance of New START’s passage in the Senate for the success of the rest of the Council’s nuclear security agenda. Raising nuclear arms control to the top of the public’s concern in the U.S. will be challenging, but it is vital to maintaining the recently-developed momentum behind smarter nuclear weapons policies pursued by the Council and the Obama Administration.