President Obama said today he hopes the lame-duck Senate will ratify New START. SecState Clinton has also signaled the administration’s hope that the treaty will be finalized before the larger Republican minority is sworn in in January:
“We believe we have enough votes to pass it in the Senate. It’s just a question of when it will be brought to the vote,” Mrs Clinton, the Secretary of State said during a visit to Wellington, New Zealand, during a tour of Asia.
Sixty-seven votes are required for ratification in the 100-member Senate.
“It certainly would be my preference that it be brought in any lame-duck session in the next several weeks and that is what I am working toward seeing happen,” she said.
“But we will have to wait and work with the Senate and the leadership when they come back for that session,” Clinton added.
“Both the United States and Russia are committed to ratifying it,” she said.