New START: A similar arms reduction pact but a different Republican reaction

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At an Armed Services Committee hearing in June, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said first among his areas of concern on New START was to feel "confident that the treaty is verifiable." Back in 2002, McCain did not attend the Armed Services hearing at which Rumsfeld said, "One reason we saw no need for including detailed verification measures in the treaty" was "there simply isn't any way on earth to verify what Russia is doing with all those warheads."

Rumsfeld added, "Neither side should have an interest in evading the terms of the treaty, since it codifies unilaterally announced reductions." Despite the lack of means to verify compliance in 2003, McCain voted to ratify the Moscow Treaty.

Republicans have sought some guarantee that promises in the Obama administration's 10-year plan to modernize the nuclear weapons complex will be carried out. This year, directors of the nation's nuclear laboratories have testified, as has the director of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), in support of New START. Kyl and others are visiting the labs, seeking further information from the directors.

Eight years ago, only one witness from the NNSA appeared at a hearing that just three Republicans attended. The NNSA's Everet H. Beckner said his agency had a "fairly aggressive" five-year budget plan for the future, but he never was asked for details. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) attended the Aug. 1, 2002, session and asked about the capability to produce more nuclear "pits," the plutonium triggers for thermonucluear weapons. Beckner's answers led Sessions to say, "So for a decade or so we have a window where this is problematic," but nothing else was done or said.

Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) illustrates another change between today's Republican handling of New START and the 2003 arms treaty ratification process.

Last month, at an Armed Services hearing, Inhofe questioned the number of hearings being held and the failure to call opponents of the pact. As an example, Inhofe noted that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which he is a member, had held 12 hearings and heard 25 witnesses but that only two had voiced criticism of the treaty. He and other Republicans requested that Levin hold additional Armed Services hearings to give opponents a chance to testify. Armed Services has now had eight hearings on New START.

Eight years ago, it was different. In the months after the Moscow Treaty was signed, the Foreign Relations Committee held only four hearings and Armed Services just two. Two nongovernmental witnesses testified and noted that the pact had no verification procedures, though neither opposed its passage. Neither Inhofe nor any other Republican requested additional hearings or witnesses.

In fact, at the second and last of the Armed Services hearings in 2002, Inhofe said he was "going to be very quick" with only one question to ask. Why? Because, he said, "we have had so many of these hearings, I have run out of questions."