Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, announced this week that he will delay a key vote on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) until after Congress recesses for the summer, according to a report by the Washington Post.
As the treaty gets put off until the volatile period before the November elections, Republican senators continue to stress that they will not support ratification without guarantees of future spending to maintain the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser for President George H.W. Bush, said, "It doesn't move the ball very much. But there's an atmosphere of great hostility."
The treaty commits the United States and Russia to reductions in their long-range, ready-to-use weapons and extends a 15-year system allowing each side to check the other's nuclear facilities.
It is a prime feature of the Obama administration's pledge to "reset" relations with Moscow.
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