GOP Congressmen Show Vigilance on START

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., helped negotiate a deal in December on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that had enough Republican support to allow the arms control treaty with Russia to gain ratification in the Senate. And now the Senate Republican whip and fellow Republican Michael Turner, chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, want to make sure that President Barack Obama sticks to the treaty’s provisions, Politico reports.

They propose a bill that would connect spending on reductions in deployed weapons required by the treaty to progress in modernizing remaining weapons and prohibiting unilateral reductions in the weapons systems without congressional approval.

“We’re going to ensure that the administration complies with the commitments that it made,” Kyl said Monday. Asked whether he trusts Obama, Kyl quoted former President Ronald Reagan: “Trust, but verify.”