Clinton urges Congress to pass nuclear treaty

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday urged Congress to pass the Obama administration’s recent nuclear arms treaty with Russia.

Mrs. Clinton said on “Fox News Sunday” the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty needs to be ratified because “it’s in the national security interest of the U.S.”

Ratifying the treaty would allow the U.S. to have nuclear arms inspectors in Russia and that European and eastern European leaders have been urging the U.S. to “please ratify [the treaty] now,” Mrs. Clinton said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Mrs. Clinton spoke from Lisbon where she was with President Obama for a NATO summit.

She was on Capitol Hill last week to try to talk to Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the second-ranking GOP in the Senate, who said more time beyond the lame duck session that ends before January is needed to understand and debate the treaty.

Mr. Obama has said passing the treaty is a top foreign policy goal of the lame duck session.

The treaty needs 67 Senate votes to pass, which would mean Democrats would need the vote of nine Republicans. However, because of GOP wins in the midterms, Democrats would need the votes of 14 Republicans in the next Congress.