On September 16, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 14-4 to approve the New START nuclear reductions treaty. This was one of the most important votes on arms control in the past two decades, and it wouldn’t have been a success without your dedicated support, passion, and engagement!
But we’ve only cleared the first hurdle. Now we need to redouble our efforts to ensure the treaty reaches the finish line. Remember that we need 67 votes for treaty approval in the Senate, including eight Republicans.
Republicans Richard Lugar (IN), Bob Corker (TN), and Johnny Isakson (GA) joined the 11 Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee to vote in support of New START. We are confident that Robert Bennett (UT) will also support the treaty. But we still need at least four additional undecided Republicans to vote “yes.” If additional Republican Senators don’t commit to the treaty as soon as possible, the treaty might not be ratified this year.
Please take a moment to e-mail your Senator in his or her Washington office and urge him or her to vote yes on the New START Treaty, a treaty supported by our active duty military leadership and most high level former national security officials.
Please send your e-mail immediately, because the Senate plans to recess for the election by the end of this week.
And please forward this message to your friends and neighbors.
The Senate is expected return for a post-election session on November 15. If the treaty is not taken up before the end of the year, it may not be considered until far into next year.
