Washington (CNN) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the lame duck Senate Wednesday to ratify the new Russian nuclear arms control treaty, warning that a failure to do so would undermine a critical need for "stability, transparency and predictability".
Clinton, appearing on Capitol Hill to push for approval of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, said the administration intends "to do everything we can during this lame duck session to get a vote to ratify this treaty".
"This is not an issue that can afford to be postponed," she said.
Clinton was joined by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Massachusetts, and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Indiana, the top Republican on the committee.
All three noted that there have been no American "boots on the ground" inspecting the Russian nuclear arsenal since the expiration of the old treaty last December.
Russia still has thousands of nuclear weapons, Lugar warned, and "any one of those warheads could obliterate (my home state capital) of Indianapolis". This is an "existential problem for our country".
If approved, the new START treaty would re-start mutual inspections while limiting both the United States and Russia to 1,550 warheads and 700 launchers.
Top Democrats were stunned Tuesday when Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican point man for Senate deliberations over the treaty, said in a statement he told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, that the accord should not be considered before January, when the newly elected Congress is seated.
CNN
