The Senate ratified the New START treaty yesterday by a vote of 71-26. The victory is a sweet success for one of Massachusetts Peace Action’s top 2010 priorities. We thank you for the many calls our members and supporters have made and messages you have sent. They worked!
The U.S.-Russia treaty reduces the maximum number of strategic warheads and launchers, and provides for on-site inspections. It is the first arms control treaty with Russia in eight years and the most substantial one since the original START treaty of 1991. Many nuclear and non nuclear countries consider the ratification of the START Treaty as a critical step toward nuclear disarmament because it puts the U.S.-Russia arms control process back on track and opens the door to additional steps, which could include a tactical arms treaty, a fissile materials treaty, the comprehensive test ban treaty, a Middle East nuclear free zone, and non-proliferation efforts.
Thirteen Republicans, including Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown, broke with their leadership and sided with Democrats, military leaders and past secretaries of state and defense who supported the treaty. Mitch McConnell, minority leader, Jon Kyl, minority whip, John McCain, and Lindsey Graham, led the opposition. The opponents fear that with power slippping worldwide, the U.S. will lose its global hegemony unless it retains nuclear supremacy. Administration and military treaty proponents seek to sustain a bloc of nuclear powers in order to prevent proliferation to regimes the U.S. dislikes, while still maintaining a U.S. nuclear edge.
The Administration made significant concessions during the Senate debate, including re-committing to plans it had already made to spend $84 billion building new nuclear weapons production facilities at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge (this on top of a plan to spend $100 billion over ten years for new missiles and bombers), and to deploy a missile defense system in Europe. The Senate wrote these plans, as well as one to negotiate a tactical weapons treaty, into the resolution of ratification to meet Republican objections.
Scott Brown delayed his announcement of support for the treaty until two days before the final vote. Massachusetts Peace Action worked to demonstrate to Sen. Brown the importance of the treaty to Massachusetts voters. We asked our members to call his office, gathered and delivered petition signatures, and organized delegations which met with his staff three times. Please contact him to thank him for his vote (617-565-3170, or send an email at http://scottbrown.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/contactme).
Now, as we rest over the holidays, supporters of nuclear abolition must gather our strength for new struggles. In 2011 we will be pushing to cut the money for nuclear weapons and other anti-nuclear campaigns. Join us at our annual meeting in Newton Center January 29 as we map our new strategy!
Massachusetts Peace Action, a statewide, grassroots peace organization, needs your support and participation. Will you renew your membership with an end-of-year donation? Our standard dues are $40 a year, or $10 for students, but we hope you can dig deep and do even more. Please use the “Donate” button at right, or fill out the form below and mail your check to Massachusetts Peace Action, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138. It’s tax-deductible if you make payment to Massachusetts Peace Action Education Fund.
Cole Harrison
Communications Coordinator