The U.S. is slated to leave the Treaty on Open Skies on Sunday, and another key nuclear arms control agreement, New START, is set to expire in just over two months.
As if the transition wasn’t already going poorly enough, right?
Eighth District Congressman Don Beyer has introduced a House resolution expressing support for existing arms control and non-proliferation agreements and efforts to reduce nuclear weapon stockpiles.
The resolution, introduced on Tuesday, specifically calls for a five-year extension of the New START Treaty, and for the Trump administration, on its way out the door, to reverse its planned exit from the Treaty on Open Skies.
Beyer previously served as U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Lichtenstein during the Obama administration.
“If President Trump is serious in his stated goal of avoiding war with foreign powers, he should commit to diplomatic engagement,” Beyer said. “If President Trump will not reverse his course on arms control treaties, I hope President-elect Biden will take the better path. Regardless of who is president, peace remains the central goal of American foreign policy, and we should prioritize efforts to prevent the possibility of a nuclear showdown. We can advance that cause by strengthening America’s commitment to non-proliferation and the reduction of nuclear arsenals. This is the only logical, moral, and sane course of action.”
Text of the resolution, House Resolution 1222, which would express the sense of the House that the United States should “reduce the threats caused by nuclear weapons without losing all the agreements that have underpinned strategic stability and nuclear risk reduction,” is available here.
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