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U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday stressed again the importance of ratifying the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) to U.S. national security.
Obama made the remarks after meeting at the White House with leaders of both Democrats and Republicans, the first such meeting after the Nov. 2 mid-term elections, in which the Democrats suffered heavily.
He called for the Senate to ratify the pact he signed with Russia in April, saying it is "absolutely essential to our national security."
He told reporters that ratification of the treaty would enable the U.S. to "monitor Russia's nuclear arsenal, reduce our nuclear weapons and strengthen our relationship with Russia."
He repeated what he had said about the broad bipartisan support to the pact, noting it has been vetted for seven months now and has gone through 18 hearings. "We need to get it done," he stressed.
Conspicuous was the absence of the president's insistence that the treaty be ratified this year.
Under the new START treaty, the number of nuclear warheads will be reduced to 1,550 on each side over seven years, while the number of delivery vehicles, both deployed and non-deployed, must not exceed 800. It also sets out rules for verification and monitoring of the nuclear arsenals on both sides.
The treaty is seen as a major achievement of the Obama administration in foreign relations and part of its efforts to reset relations with Russia. Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medevedev agreed that the ratification process should be simultaneous at U.S. Senate and Russia's Duma.
Obama's Democrats lost control of the House of Representatives to the opposition Republicans in the mid-term elections and lost six seats in the Senate but retained its control. For the passage of the treaty in the Senate now, the Democrats need at least eight Republican votes for support. If delayed until next year when the new Congress opens, at least 14 Republican votes are needed.
The Obama administration has been pushing for the treaty's passage in the Senate by the end of the year.
Obama described his White House meeting with Republican leaders as "constructive" and "a good start." They talked about tax, arms treaty and other issues.
XINHUA
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