Cotton Statement on Expiration of New START

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick McCann (202) 224-2353
February 5, 2026

Cotton Statement on Expiration of New START

Washington, D.C. — Today, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, released the following statement on the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty:

“The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as New START, expired today, and America is better for it. For too long, this flawed agreement has handcuffed America while our adversaries have expanded their arsenals. Today marks not an end, but a beginning—the beginning of America's return to nuclear strength and the end of the era of unilateral restraint. The treaty's expiration is an overdue correction of a strategic mistake that left America vulnerable to two nuclear peer competitors, Russia and Communist China.”

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