FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Caroline Tabler or James Arnold (202) 224-2353
January 21, 2021

 

Cotton Statement on Biden Plan to Extend U.S.–Russia Arms Deal

Washington, D.C.  Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) released the following statement after President Biden proposed that the New START treaty be extended for five years:

“President Biden is giving a gift to Vladimir Putin by unconditionally extending the New START treaty. Even worse, he announced his intention to give away the United States’ most valuable leverage within 24 hours of assuming office. This decision sets a concerning precedent for future U.S.-Russia relations. After four years of unfounded, hysterical attacks on President Trump and chest-thumping about Russia, it appears that President Biden and the Democrats have immediately reverted to their old, weak, dovish ways.

This extension will allow Russia to continue building tactical nuclear weapons and experimenting with exotic doomsday devices that the treaty doesn’t touch. It’ll give the Chinese Communist Party five more years to narrow the gap between its nuclear arsenal and our own. The only power this decision truly constrains is the United States, whose submarines, bombers, and missiles are decades old. This negotiating failure can only be salvaged by a full commitment to U.S. nuclear modernization.”

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