Now is not the time to play games in Congress! The START Treaty can, and should be, passed immediately. Both parties agree that it's needed, but Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has pledged to keep it from passing and is in a position to single-handedly stop it.
Kyl's first argument was that the administration didn't include additional funds for nuclear weapons modernization as part of the overall package. When the White House agreed and made his recommended changes, his argument shifted and his new excuse is a direct result of his own delays--he says there's not enough time to pass it before the end of the year. (The last treat was passed by both houses in less than five days.)
Obama went to great lengths to win the support of the nmilitary, the State Department and a broad range of Republicans and Democrats. Former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice supports the treaty. So do other prominent Republicans including George Shultz, Henry Kissinger, James Baker and Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee.
Every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff strongly backs it. The chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, has said, "I believe--and the rest of the military leadership in this country believes--that this treaty is essential to our future security."
Unchecked nuclear weaponry in unstable threatens American lives. That's the cost of this political game. Those stakes are too high to play with and America should not tolerate it!
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