Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is urging Senate passage of an arms control treaty with Russia following a delayed vote on the pact last week. The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty calls for the US and Russia to cut their deployed arsenals to 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missile silos and bombers each. Democrats have moved a vote on the measure to next month to address Republican demands on preserving nuclear spending. Clinton said failure to approve the deal threatens national security.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: “Our national security is at risk. There is an urgency to ratify this treaty, because we currently lack verification measures with Russia, which only hurts our national security interests. Our ability to know and understand changes in Russia’s nuclear arsenal will erode without the treaty.”