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President Obama Challenges Republicans to Approve START Treaty

   VOA News 20 November 2010
   Barack Obama delivers his weekly address, 20 Nov 2010

Photo: White House Video

   Barack Obama delivers his weekly address, 20 Nov 2010

   U.S.  President  Barack  Obama  has stepped up his criticism of Senate
   Republicans  working  to  delay  voting  on  a  nuclear arms reduction
   agreement with Russia.
   In  his  weekly  address  Saturday,  Mr.  Obama  said  Republicans are
   ignoring   the  late  president  Ronald  Reagan's  lesson  on  nuclear
   diplomacy, "Trust but verify."
   Mr.  Obama  said  if the Senate does not approve the updated Strategic
   Arms  Reduction  Treaty (START) this year, U.S. inspectors will not be
   able  to  verify  Russia has honored the agreement to cut its deployed
   nuclear arsenal by 30 percent.

   IFRAME: [1]http://player.vimeo.com/video/17016109

   The  president  and  head  of  the  Democratic Party said the Senate's
   failure to act could also jeopardize Russia's support of Washington on
   other issues, including Iran's nuclear ambitions.

   The  Republican  address Saturday delivered by Senator Mitch McConnell
   dealt  with  domestic  issues.  He urged Mr. Obama to extend tax cuts
   for  all Americans, not just families making under $250,000 a year, as
   favored by the president.

   Senator  McConnell  also  criticized  Mr.  Obama and Democrats for not
   doing enough to reduce unemployment.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

References

   1. http://player.vimeo.com/video/17016109

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