START Follow-On Agreement Supporters

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates

“I think actually that there is a willingness and an ability to make deeper reductions. We are at about – the goal now, I think, is to get down to something on the order of 1,700 to 2,200 deployed warheads, and we can probably do better than that. The real issue has centered around the nature of the agreement we should have with the Russians. My own view is, there will be another agreement with the Russians. I am confident that the new – that whoever is elected president, we will go to the bargaining table. If we don’t have time to get a new START agreement before the current – before the Moscow Treaty expires, there is provision for both sides to extend the existing treaty, with the verification procedures and so on. And I have every confidence that we will do that.”

October 28, 2008 speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace


Sen. John McCain (AZ)

"The Cold War ended almost twenty years ago, and the time has come to take further measures to reduce dramatically the number of nuclear weapons in the world's arsenals. In so doing, the United States can – and indeed, must – show the kind of leadership the world expects from us, in the tradition of American presidents who worked to reduce the nuclear threat to mankind...As the Administration reviews its nuclear weapons posture, it should, I believe, seek to reduce the size of our nuclear arsenal to the lowest number possible consistent with our security requirements and global commitments. This means a move, as rapidly as possible, to a significantly smaller force."

June 3, 2009 Senate floor speech


Former Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of Defense William Perry, and former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn

“The U.S. and Russia, which possess close to 95% of the world's nuclear warheads, have a special responsibility, obligation and experience to demonstrate leadership. Some steps are already in progress, such as the ongoing reductions in the number of nuclear warheads deployed on long-range, or strategic, bombers and missiles.”

January 15, 2008 Wall Street Journal op-ed


Former Secretary of State James Baker

James A. Baker III, who was secretary of state when the Berlin Wall fell, was in Moscow for a conference on the politics of Caspian Sea oil and natural gas riches that both Russia and the West are maneuvering to obtain access to. Mr. Baker called the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons laudable but said Russian-American relations could be more immediately revived with the measure of resuming talks on prolonging the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or Start I, which expires in December.

March 19, 2009 New York Times article


Former Co-Chairs of the 9/11 Commission Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton

“More nuclear-armed states means more risks to peace and stability…We can help by making deeper nuclear arms reductions, ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and fulfilling the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty -- steps that would have a powerful, positive effect.”

November 9, 2008 Washington Post op-ed


Senator Richard G. Lugar (IN)

“First, it is vital that the START Treaty with Russia be renewed. When the Senate gave its consent to ratification to the Moscow Treaty in 2002, it did so knowing that the United States could rely on START Treaty's verification regime. It provides important assurances to both sides. At the time, this committee was assured that extension of START was a very high priority. Unfortunately, little progress has been made, and the treaty will expire in 11 months. In other words, the conceptual underpinning of our strategic relationship with Russia depends upon something that is about to expire. Such an outcome will be seen as weakening the international nonproliferation regime.”

January 13, 2009 statement at confirmation hearing for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton