Active Strategic Treaties
The President:
I have the honor to submit to you the Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed at Prague on April 8, 2010, with Protocol. The Protocol is an integral part of the Treaty and contains three Annexes. Also enclosed, for the information of the Senate, are unilateral statements associated with the Treaty. These unilateral statements are not legally binding and are not integral parts of the Treaty.
The purpose of this Treaty is to require mutual reductions and limitations on U.S. and Russian strategic offensive arms. If ratified and implemented by the United States and the Russian Federation, it will promote transparency and predictability in the strategic relationship between the United States and Russia and will result in significantly lower limits on the two countries' deployed strategic delivery vehicles and their associated warheads, while preserving our ability to maintain the strong nuclear deterrent that remains an essential element of U.S. national security.
There are several elements of the Treaty to which I would draw your attention. The Treaty includes extensive provisions to verify that the Parties are complying with their obligations, including on-site inspections, notifications, a comprehensive and continuing exchange of data, and provisions for the use of national technical means. It also includes detailed procedures for conversion or elimination of Treaty-accountable items, and provides for the exchange of certain telemetric information for increased transparency. Finally, the Treaty establishes a Bilateral Consultative Commission to promote effective implementation of the Treaty regime.
I also note that the Treaty permits the United States the freedom to determine the structure and composition of its strategic forces within the Treaty's limits. The Treaty does not contain any constraints on testing, development or deployment of current or planned U.S. missile defense programs or current or planned U.S. long-range conventional strike capabilities, nor does it prevent modernization of U.S. strategic forces.
The Treaty, upon it its entry into force, will supersede the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Russian Federation on Strategic Offensive Reductions, signed at Moscow on May 24, 2002, and will not require implementing legislation in the United States.
Accompanying this report is a detailed article-by-article analysis of the Treaty, including its Protocol and Annexes thereto, as well as an analysis of the unilateral statements referenced above.
This Treaty will enhance the national security of the United States. I therefore recommend that the Treaty, including its Protocol, be submitted to the Senate for its advice and consent to ratification at the earliest possible date.
Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Enclosure: As stated.