Churches urge senate to ratify START II now

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

>Churches urges Senate
>to ratify START II this year

See: http://www.ncccusa.org/news/101118starttreaty.html

New York, November 18, 2010 -- The staff leaders of the National 
Council of  Churches and Church World Service have sent messages to 
U.S. senators urgi ng the ratification this year of the Strategic 
Arms Reduction Treaty (START  II) signed by President Obama and 
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The message by the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, NCC general secretary, 
and th e Rev. John L. McCullough, CWS executive director and CEO, 
comes at a time  when ratification of the treaty is uncertain during 
the lame duck period be fore the 111th Congress adjourns.

Last week the general assembly of the NCC and CWS, meeting as a 
Centennial  Ecumenical Gathering in New Orleans, unanimously adopted 
a call to ratify t he treaty. Kinnamon and McCullough sent copies of 
the statement to U.S. sen ators.

The statement urging passage of the treaty was sent to Senator Harry 
Reid ( D-Nev.), majority leader of the Senate, and to Senator Jon Kyl 
(R-Ariz.), m inority whip, and all U.S. senators. Kyl has cast doubt 
on the timing of a  vote on the treaty, saying senators needed more 
time to study its implicati ons.

"This treaty is a vital step in moving the United States into greater 
partn ership with the world as it turns away from nuclear weapons," 
said the lett er from Kinnamon and McCullough, quoting the General 
Assembly resolution. " The United States as a whole has the chance to 
contribute to this global mo vement by shrinking the largest nuclear 
arsenal in the world."  

This treaty "cannot be caught in the gridlock of Capitol Hill. Its 
ratifica tion is too important for the future and security of the 
United States and  the world. On behalf of Christians across this 
country, we strongly urge yo u to bring the treaty to a vote, and to 
support ratification of START," the  letter said.

The Rev. Jan Olav Flaaten, executive director of the Arizona 
Ecumenical Cou ncil, joined in the letter to Mr. Kyl.

The General Assembly resolution declared the member communions and 
other gr oups are raising their collective voice to say to the U.S. 
Senate: "Approve  the START II treaty without delay!"

"We add that, while START II is important, it is not enough," the 
delegates  said. "We live in a time when the tide is turning 
worldwide in the directi on of complete nuclear disarmament. More 
than half the world's nations now  live in regions classified by the 
United Nations as Nuclear Weapon Free Zon es, and many cities in the 
United States have declared themselves nuclear f ree zones as well. 
The United States as a whole has the chance to contribut e to this 
global movement by shrinking the largest nuclear arsenal in the w 
orld  -- toward the goal of their total elimination."

The full text of the resolution can be downloaded at 
http://www.ncccusa.org /pdfs/SALTII.pdf.
The letter to U.S. senators can be downloaded at 
http://www.ncccusa.org/pdf s/STARTletterreid.pdf                   
      

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of 
Christ  in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical 
cooperation among Chri stians in the United States. The NCC's 37 
member faith groups -- from a wid e spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, 
Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African  American and Living Peace 
churches -- include 45 million persons in more t han 100,000 local 
congregations in communities across the nation.

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office), 
646-853-4212 ( cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org