The moment we are working towards is fast approaching. We are getting word that the Senate could vote in just a few weeks on a new US agreement with Russia called New START that will cut the size of both nations’ nuclear arsenals. Your senators need to be reminded that this treaty would serve as a crucial stepping stone towards a nuclear weapons free world.

From Palin to Romney, hard-right Republicans are putting nuclear security on the line to score a win against Obama. According to former Sen. Tom Daschle, the failure to ratify this treaty could trigger “nuclear anarchy” by unraveling decades of international agreements that have kept the spread of nuclear weapons in check. There is too much at stake to let partisan games stand in the way. Will you call your senators now?

Incredibly, it’s true. The Government Accountability Office just discovered (pdf) that the agency charged with managing the US nuclear stockpile is pretty much making up the numbers as they go along.

For instance, when the National Nuclear Security Administration asked Congress for millions of dollars to maintain weapons activities in 2009, they ended up spending well into the billions. From the GAO report:

As reported above, when we asked, not all M&O contractors determined the total cost to operate and maintain weapons activities facilities and infrastructure at their sites. However, for the six contractors that did so, the cost to fully operate and maintain weapons activities facilities and infrastructure greatly exceeded the amount of funding for RTBF Operations of Facilities in fiscal year 2009. Congressionally directed RTBF Operations of Facilities funding for these six sites in fiscal year 2009 totaled approximately $558.6 million, but their estimated fiscal 2009 expenditures for this work scope drawn from all funding sources totaled approximately $1.1 billion.

I was 17 the first time I took a stand against nuclear weapons.

The US was planning to build the neutron bomb near my hometown in Colorado, and I was outraged at the risk the bomb plant posed to the health of families living near the plant. I was sickened to think that a bomb built near my home could be used to kill many thousands of people. I knew I had to do something.

These many years later, I know how important our voices were in helping to close the Rocky Flats Plant near Denver. Today it is so important we not forget our collective power to make change.

Will the Senate stand in the way of a safer world, or will it support a new nuclear weapons treaty to reduce the huge US and Russian nuclear weapons arsenals?

Last week, President Obama formally submitted the New START treaty to cut nuclear weapons to the US Senate. Key Senate committees will be holding hearings beginning tomorrow and Republican senators are weighing whether or not to support the treaty.

With more than 23,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, we have 23,000 chances for an accidental nuclear launch or for a weapon to fall into the wrong hands with devastating consequences. The US and Russia have 95 percent of the world’s stockpiles. The New START treaty can make us all that much safer by reducing both countries’ arsenals and paving the way for future progress to reduce the nuclear threat. [1]

(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

After a year of negotiations, the President Obama and Russian President Medvedev signed a new treaty today to reduce nuclear weapons stockpiles in both countries and make the world that much safer.

But will the Senate do the right thing and ratify the treaty, or will they hold it hostage to partisan politics?

 Please click here to ask your senators to support ratifying the New START agreement to reduce our nuclear arsenal.

At the signing ceremony today in Prague, President Obama spoke about how the treaty opens the door to further actions to reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons. Here’s an excerpt: