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President Obama Urges Congress Swift Approval of START Treaty

   VOA News 18 December 2010
   President Barack Obama (file photo)

Photo: Casa Blanca

   President Barack Obama (file photo)

   U.S.  President  Barack  Obama  is  pressing  Congress  to  ratify the
   Strategic  Arms Reduction Treaty (START) before the upcoming  holiday
   break.
   During  his  weekly  address  Saturday,  Mr.  Obama said ratifying the
   treaty  is  crucial  to  the  country's security and not about winning
   political points.
   He  says  without  a  strategic arms control treaty, the United States
   would not have on-site inspections of Russia's nuclear arsenal.
   He  says  the  lack  of  a  treaty  undercuts  former President Ronald
   Reagan's call to trust, but verify, when it comes to nuclear weapons.
   Mr. Obama says former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush, as
   well  as  every  living  former  Republican  Secretary  of State, have
   endorsed the START treaty.
   President  Obama  says he counting on Congress to demonstrate the same
   bi-partisianship in ratifying the treaty that was displayed in passing
   a key economic package on Friday. Â

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