By Anna Schumann
Council for a Livable World endorsees are vocal supporters of arms control and treaties that make the world more safe.
A few of our 2020 endorsees currently in office had a lot to say about the announcement that the United States would pull out of the Open Skies Treaty, effective in November.
Rep. Gil Cisneros (D-CA-39) says it “undermines our national security.”
“This is reckless and dangerous. The Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Open Skies Treaty endangers our deployed forces, undermines our national security, and turns our back on our European allies. This is another gift to Putin and Russia.”
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in a tweet called it “the latest chapter in the President’s methodical dismantlement of the arms control architecture” and said “Congress must step in.”
Sen. Markey then introduced a bill, the PAUSE Act, “to give Congress a say before we blow up treaties like Open Skies.”
In his statement about the bill, Sen. Markey, who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the withdrawal “reckless.”
“President Trump’s reckless withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty will have a lasting impact on our ability to track Russian military activity that could threaten the interests of the United States and our allies. Congress can wait no longer to assert our constitutional prerogative. Congress’s role over treaty withdrawal has remained uncertain for far too long. Our founders intended that no U.S. president should have full control of treaty powers. I’m proud to partner with Congressman Panetta in this effort to limit the damage that a reckless President can do – not only to the international treaties that underpin our security, but also to the reputation of the United States for keeping our word. At this moment, when we desperately need U.S. global leadership to fight the a global pandemic, President Trump should not run roughshod over treaties that contribute to our national security and that of our allies.”
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Senate Armed Services Committee, tweeted out a statement calling the decision “dangerous and misguided” and also mentioned the imperiled New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which is at risk of not being extended.
“President Trump is barreling down a path that ultimately makes us less secure and cedes U.S. global leadership. The dangerous and misguided decision to abandon this international agreement cripples our ability to conduct aerial surveillance of Russia, while allowing Russian reconnaissance flights over U.S. bases in Europe to continue. The administration’s decision to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty – and the uncertainty surrounding its commitment to New START – is very alarming. It betrays the transatlantic alliance. The Open Skies Treaty is part of an overlapping arms control framework that has helped maintain and promote global stability for thirty years, which is more important today than ever before. This reckless decision makes our world less safe and less secure, and I urge President Trump to reverse it.”
All three of these elected officials are up for re-election this year. Help keep them in office.
