Senator McCaskill thinks failure of the Senate to adopt the new START treaty before it goes home would send the wrong message around the world.
The vote to start debate on the new treaty was one short of the number needed to approve the agreement that cuts the number of deployed nuclear missiles by Russia and the United States to 35-hundred.
McCaskill says the treaty is important to our troops in Afghanistan because our supply lines to them go through Russia and because of our own missile defense plans, which she says are going forward. She says the relationship with Russia is the key to getting a defense system in place to check other countries wanting to build nuclear weapons or develop nuclear capabilities.
Thirty-two Senators, all Republicans voted “no.” She says it’s time for both parties to step up and show that national security is a top priority. She says it would be “mind boggling” for the Senate to refuse to ratify.
Voting on the procedure to cut off debate does not necessarily mean at least that many Senators will vote for ratification. But McCaskill says less than the necessary 67 votes will show the world a lack of will, something she things matters in international relations.
Mccaskill & Priddy during her conference call 3:27 mp3
