20 June 2002
Bush Sends New Arms Reduction Treaty to Senate for Ratification
(Bush, Putin signed treaty in Moscow May 24) (970)
President Bush on June 20 sent the new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms
reduction treaty to the Senate for its advice and consent to
ratification.
In an accompanying letter, Bush said the treaty -- which he and
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in Moscow May 24 --
"represents an important element of the new strategic relationship"
between the United States and the Russian Federation.
"It will take our two nations along a stable, predictable path to
substantial reductions in our deployed strategic nuclear warhead
arsenals by December 31, 2012," he said. "When these reductions are
completed, each country will be at the lowest level of deployed
strategic nuclear warheads in decades. This will benefit the peoples
of both the United States and Russia and contribute to a more secure
world."
Under the terms of the treaty, the United States and Russia agreed to
reduce their operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads to
between 1700 and 2200 over the next decade.
Following is the text of Bush's letter to the Senate:
(begin text)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
June 20, 2002
TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:
I transmit herewith, for the advice and consent of the Senate to
ratification, the Treaty Between the United States of America and the
Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, signed at Moscow
on May 24, 2002 (the "Moscow Treaty").
The Moscow Treaty represents an important element of the new strategic
relationship between the United States and Russia. It will take our
two nations along a stable, predictable path to substantial reductions
in our deployed strategic nuclear warhead arsenals by December 31,
2012. When these reductions are completed, each country will be at the
lowest level of deployed strategic nuclear warheads in decades. This
will benefit the peoples of both the United States and Russia and
contribute to a more secure world.
The Moscow Treaty codifies my determination to break through the long
impasse in further nuclear weapons reductions caused by the inability
to finalize agreements through traditional arms control efforts. In
the decade following the collapse of the Soviet Union, both countries'
strategic nuclear arsenals remained far larger than needed, even as
the United States and Russia moved toward a more cooperative
relationship. On May 1, 2001, I called for a new framework for our
strategic relationship with Russia, including further cuts in nuclear
weapons to reflect the reality that the Cold War is over. On November
13, 2001, I announced the United States plan for such cuts -- to
reduce our operationally deployed strategic nuclear warheads to a
level of between 1700 and 2200 over the next decade. I announced these
planned reductions following a careful study within the Department of
Defense. That study, the Nuclear Posture Review, concluded that these
force levels were sufficient to maintain the security of the United
States. In reaching this decision, I recognized that it would be
preferable for the United States to make such reductions on a
reciprocal basis with Russia, but that the United States would be
prepared to proceed unilaterally.
My Russian counterpart, President Putin, responded immediately and
made clear that he shared these goals. President Putin and I agreed
that our nations' respective reductions should be recorded in a
legally binding document that would outlast both of our presidencies
and provide predictability over the longer term. The result is a
Treaty that was agreed without protracted negotiations. This Treaty
fully meets the goals I set out for these reductions.
It is important for there to be sufficient openness so that the United
States and Russia can each be confident that the other is fulfilling
its reductions commitment. The Parties will use the comprehensive
verification regime of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of
Strategic Offensive Arms (the "START Treaty") to provide the
foundation for confidence, transparency, and predictability in further
strategic offensive reductions. In our Joint Declaration on the New
Strategic Relationship between the United States and Russia, President
Putin and I also decided to establish a Consultative Group for
Strategic Security to be chaired by Foreign and Defense Ministers.
This body will be the principal mechanism through which the United
States and Russia strengthen mutual confidence, expand transparency,
share information and plans, and discuss strategic issues of mutual
interest.
The Moscow Treaty is emblematic of our new, cooperative relationship
with Russia, but it is neither the primary basis for this relationship
nor its main component. The United States and Russia are partners in
dealing with the threat of terrorism and resolving regional conflicts.
There is growing economic interaction between the business communities
of our two countries and ever-increasing people-to-people and cultural
contacts and exchanges. The U.S. military has put Cold War practices
behind it, and now plans, sizes, and sustains its forces in
recognition that Russia is not an enemy, Russia is a friend.
Military-to-military and intelligence exchanges are well established
and growing.
The Moscow Treaty reflects this new relationship with Russia. Under
it, each Party retains the flexibility to determine for itself the
composition and structure of its strategic offensive arms, and how
reductions are made. This flexibility allows each Party to determine
how best to respond to future security challenges.
There is no longer the need to narrowly regulate every step we each
take, as did Cold War treaties founded on mutual suspicion and an
adversarial relationship.
In sum, the Moscow Treaty is clearly in the best interests of the
United States and represents an important contribution to U.S.
national security and strategic stability. I therefore urge the Senate
to give prompt and favorable consideration to the Treaty, and to
advise and consent to its ratification.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE, June 20, 2002.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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