US official expects START vote, unsure outcome: "A senior US official on Monday predicted a vote on a landmark arms reduction treaty with Russia before mid-term elections, but refused to predict if it would pass amid Republican opposition.
Rose Gottemoeller, who helped negotiate the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), said the Senate was working 'very hard' and 'I hope actually (to) get a vote on the floor in the next couple of weeks.'
'These are all signs to me of momentum -- and of positive momentum -- but as to the results, I think, well, it's still up in the air,' said Gottemoeller, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation.
Gottemoeller said that Senator John Kerry had promised that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he chairs, would take up START on Thursday.
'The reason I'm feeling optimistic is that we have a clear signal from Senator Kerry,' said Gottemoeller, who was addressing a forum at Georgetown University.
But senators, who re-entered session on Monday, are expected to adjourn within a month to campaign for November 2 mid-term elections, in which President Barack Obama's Democratic Party is seen at risk.
Richard Lugar, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is the only senator from his party who has come out in support of ratification of the new START treaty."
