THE PRESIDENT:  I want to begin by thanking the incredible leaders who are around this table, not only the Vice President and the Secretary of State, but also some of the most able statesmen from both parties that we’ve had in modern American history who are sitting around this table.

We are here to discuss the importance of ratifying（批准，认可） the START treaty.  And let me be clear:  It is in the national security imperative（需要，命令） -- it is a national security imperative that the United States ratify the New START treaty this year.

There is no higher national security priority for the lame duck session of Congress.  The stakes for American national security are clear, and they are high.  The New START treaty responsibly reduces the number of nuclear weapons and launchers that the United States and Russia deploy, while fully maintaining America’s nuclear deterrent（核威慑力量） .

If we ratify this treaty, we’re going to have a verification regime in place to track Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons, including U.S. inspectors on the ground.  If we don’t, then we don’t have a verification regime -– no inspectors, no insights into Russia’s strategic arsenal, no framework for cooperation between the world’s two nuclear superpowers.  As Ronald Reagan said, we have to trust, but we also have to verify.  In order for us to verify, we’ve got to have a treaty.

The New START treaty is also a cornerstone of our relations with Russia.  And this goes beyond nuclear security.  Russia has been fundamental to our efforts to put strong sanctions in place to put pressure on Iran to deal with its nuclear program.  It’s been critical in supporting our troops in Afghanistan through the Northern Distribution Network.  It’s been critical in working with us to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world, and to enhance European security.

We cannot afford to gamble on our ability to verify Russia’s strategic nuclear arms.  And we can’t jeopardize（危害） the progress that we’ve made in securing vulnerable nuclear materials, or in maintaining a strong sanctions regime against Iran.  These are all national interests of the highest order.

Let me also say -- and I think the group around the table will confirm -- that this New START treaty is completely in line with a tradition of bipartisan cooperation on this issue.  This is not a Democratic concept; this is not a Republican concept.  This is a concept of American national security that has been promoted by Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and now my administration.

We’ve taken the time to do this right.  To ensure that the treaty got a fair hearing, we submitted to the Senate last spring.  Because of the leadership of John Kerry and Dick Lugar, there have been 18 hearings on this subject.  There have been multiple briefings.  It has been fully and carefully vetted（审查，诊疗） , and has the full endorsement of our nation’s military leadership.  Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Hoss Cartwright is here and will confirm that this is in our national security interests.