Podcast

Backers of US nuke treaty push for Republican support

Updated: 2010-09-15 13:45

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A senior senator offered a plan on Monday aimed at overcoming objections by his fellow Republicans to a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia.

The proposal by Senator Richard Lugar came as Obama administration officials made a last-minute push for the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty agreement ahead of a vote on Thursday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. While the panel is expected to endorse the treaty, prospects are uncertain in the full Senate, where Democrats need at least eight Republican votes for ratification.

Administration officials were expressing confidence that the treaty, considered one of President Barack Obama's top foreign policy achievements, was gaining support from Republicans despite the rarefied political environment ahead of the November congressional election.

"There is a great deal of momentum toward ratification," said the treaty's chief US negotiator, Rose Gottemoeller, at an event at Georgetown University on Monday.

Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty in April. It would shrink the limit on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country, down about a third from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would implement changes in current procedures that allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals and verify compliance.

Lugar, the Foreign Relations Committee's ranking Republican and a longtime advocate of arms control, was circulating an amendment to the resolution of support for the treaty offered by the committee's chairman, Democrat John Kerry.

The amendment, obtained by the Associated Press, includes assurances about a host of concerns that Republicans have raised about the treaty, including whether it would limit US missile defense.

The amendment says it is the sense of the US Senate that the treaty does not limit US missile defense except for a provision that forbids converting existing offensive missile launchers into missile defense assets.

Questions:

1. Which senator proposed the plan?

2. What is the name of the Russian President?

3. What is the limit on the number of warheads according to a treaty signed in April?

Answers:

1. Richard Lugar.

2. Dmitry Medvedev.

3. 1,550.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.