WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-NM) released the following statement after the Senate voted 71-26 today to ratify the New START nuclear weapons treaty with Russia:
“With today’s ratification of the New START Treaty, we move a step closer toward realizing the legacy of a world without nuclear weapons that was first articulated by President Kennedy, built upon by President Reagan and further advanced by President Obama. The threat of nuclear weapons is not a partisan issue, it is an American issue and, more importantly, a human issue. Fewer weapons mean fewer opportunities for mistakes or losses of warheads, and fewer opportunities for unstable regimes such as North Korea, Iran or Myanmar, or individuals with malicious intentions to acquire or build a nuclear weapon. That’s why I am pleased that the U.S. Senate came together on an issue that has the potential to impact every person in America, and across the world.
“Moving forward, New Mexico will be at the forefront of the verification measures outlined in this treaty. Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories will be leaders of this mission because of the labs’ requisite professional expertise to aid the monitoring of Russian forces. I believe that it is no small coincidence that the progression toward a world without nuclear weapons will require the continued, diligent work of those who first created and then secured our arsenals. The safety, security and reliability of our available nuclear weapons will become increasingly important to our country as we reduce our stockpile, and New Mexico will continue to be at the forefront of those efforts.”
