McConnell Won't Vote for START Treaty
Talking Points Memo reports:
The Senate's Republican leader came out Sunday against a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, warning Democrats not to rush through President Barack Obama's foreign policy priority in the final days of the postelection Congress. Top Democrats still expressed confidence the Senate would ratify the accord by year's end.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made no prediction about the treaty's success or failure if it came to a vote, but he said many Republicans were just now getting deeply involved in the issue.
"Members are uneasy about it, don't feel thoroughly familiar with it, and I think we would have been a lot better off to take our time," McConnell said. "Rushing it right before Christmas strikes me as trying to jam us. ... I think that was not the best way to get the support of people like me."
Senate debate was expected to resume Sunday. Treaties require a two-thirds majority of those voting in the Senate, or 67 votes if all 100 senators vote.
