HOUSE DEMS URGE VETO OF DEF. AUTH. BILL OVER NUKE WEAPONS PROVISIONS

Thirty-three House Democrats want President Obama to make good on a promise to veto the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act if it contains House-passed provisions linking tying the implementation of the New START Treaty with Russia to efforts to modernize the nation’s nuclear deterrent. In a June 18 letter, the lawmakers—led by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.)—called the recently passed House bill “backwards-looking” and suggested it did “not reflect our current national security needs.” Obama already threatened to veto the bill over the New START-related provisions. “At a time when the U.S. has formally agreed to reduce its nuclear arsenal under the New START Treaty, and there is a growing consensus among defense experts and retired military officers that a far smaller nuclear force is required for an effective nuclear defense and deterrent, we must reduce our nuclear weapons arsenal,” the lawmakers wrote. “We must reject attempts to retreat from our commitments and relationships and adopt a Cold War mentality that is no longer relevant, nor reflective of our national security needs.”