Festivus Feats of Strength Con't.: START II

credit: Signs of the time

Update:  The Senate voted yesterday to end debate with a vote of 67 "ayes" indicating enough support to ratify the treaty. Senator John Kerry (D-MA), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said enough GOP senators have put the nation's safety above politics to insure passage of START II. Three senators including Ron Wyden (D-OR) who was released from the hospital after prostate surgery were absent for the cloture vote, but are expected to vote for the treaty today.

{20.12.10}The much belabored strategic nuclear arms pact with Russia cleared another hurdle last night when the Risch amendment (see post below) was voted down 32-60. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid has filed for cloture to end debate. The cloture motion requires only 60 votes to pass. involved. Then there are 30 more hours of debate according to the archaic rules of the Senate. Reid said more amendments will be debated in that time, but in the end it boils down to this, "either you want to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists, or you don't". No exaggeration there, Senator, because no US inspectors have been inside Russia since the last START treaty expired a year ago. The treaty provides for 18 inspections per year. The US has 17 facilities subject to inspection, while Russia has 35. Two leading Repugnants have come out of their closets and made their unconditional opposition to the agreement public. McConnell and Kyl both said the treaty needs to be "fixed". However, Vice President Joe Biden appears confident treaty supporters have enough votes for final passage. The historic vote could take place December 23, the last scheduled working day of this Congress, but our nation's existential foreign policy* is in danger of becoming hopelessly entangled in domestic partisanship.

*“I can only underscore that the strategic nuclear arms treaty, worked out on the strict basis of parity, in our view fully answers to the national interests of Russia and the United States,” Sergey V. Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, told the Interfax news agency on Monday. “It cannot be opened up and become the subject of new negotiations.”