This from the U.S. women religious social network:
The fate of New START hangs in the balance. The ratification of the treaty signed by the presidents of the US and Russia on April 8 is dependent on its being brought to the Senate floor for a vote during the lame-duck session that starts November 15. Major efforts are being made to bring it to a vote but it won’t be done unless it is clear that New START has the 67 votes necessary for ratification. The Senate has already held 18 hearings and four briefings.
Support for ratification has come from the military, former Secretaries of State from both parties, and from religious leaders including the USCCB. On September 22, 2010, the USCCB published an “action alert” asking Catholics to “urge your Senators to publicly support the new START treaty because it makes our nation and world safer by reducing nuclear weapons in a verifiable way, and to ask the Senate leadership to bring it to a vote.”
The new START Treaty will:
· Continue to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons held by both the United States and Russia
· Increase trust-building to provide a platform for further nuclear arms reduction treaties with Russia
· Close the nuclear weapons verification gap with Russia that has existed since December 2009
· Provide evidence of our moral commitment to a nuclear free world.
ACTION: Call Senators, especially Republican Senators on November 16 at the Capitol Switchboard, 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senator by name. Let them know where you stand as a Catholic on New START and urge them to support ratification.
KEY SENATORS: AK (Murkowski); AZ (Kyl, McCain); FL (LeMieux); GA (Chambliss); ID (Crapo); IA (Grassley); IL (Kirk); KY (McConnell); ME (Snowe); MA (Brown); MS (Cochran); NH (Gregg); OH (Voinovich); SC (Graham); TN (Alexander); UT (Hatch); WY (Enzi);
