US News

Senate OK for nuke pact

WASHINGTON — The Senate yesterday ratified an arms-control treaty with Russia that reins in the nuclear weapons that could plunge the world into doomsday, giving President Obama a major foreign-policy win in Congress’ waning hours.

Thirteen Republicans broke with their top two leaders and joined 56 Democrats and two independents in providing the necessary two-thirds vote to approve the treaty. The vote was 71-26, with Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) showing up just two days after cancer surgery.

Obama praised the strong bipartisan vote for a treaty he described as the most significant arms-control pact in nearly two decades.

“This treaty will enhance our leadership to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and seek the peace of a world without them,” he told reporters at a White House news conference.

The accord, which still needs approval by Russia, would restart onsite weapons inspections. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow welcomed the vote but still needed to study the accompanying Senate resolution.

Vice President Joe Biden presided over the Senate and announced the vote. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton observed the vote from the Senate floor. Both former senators had lobbied furiously for the treaty’s approval.

Calling the treaty a national-security imperative, Obama had pressed for its approval before a new, more Republican Congress assumes power in January. In recent days, he had telephoned a handful of wavering Republicans, eventually locking in their votes.

The Obama administration has argued that the United States must show credibility in its improved relations with its former Cold War foe, and the treaty was critical to any rapprochement. The White House is counting on Russia to help pressure Iran over its nuclear ambitions.

“A responsible partnership between the world’s two largest nuclear powers that limits our nuclear arsenals while maintaining strategic stability is imperative to promoting global security,” Clinton said in a statement applauding the vote.