Secretary of State nominee Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) said negotiating an extension to the expiring Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia would be a priority of the new Administration and seemed open to lowering the number of warheads allowed in the landmark treaty during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jan. 13. "We will have a very strong commitment to the START treaty negotiations," Clinton said. "We want to get out of the box early; we want Russia to know that we are serious."rnIn response to a suggestion from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the new chairman of the committee, that the U.S. and Russia "embrace deep, reciprocal cuts in our nuclear arsenals," setting a goal of no more than 1,000 deployed warheads, Clinton said: "I take to heart what the chairman said about trying to reduce our numbers even lower." Later, responding to a question from Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo), she said she supported bilateral cuts to the stockpiles of Russia and the U.S. "We are very serious about negotiating and are willing to go lower so long as the Russians are as well and that the deterrent that we have we always believe is adequate," she said. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-1 Jan. 15 to confirm Clinton as Secretary of State, leaving just the full Senate's approval for Clinton to formally take her spot in Obama's cabinet.
展开▼
