US ratifies defense pacts with Britain, Australia: "In a boon to US ties with Australia and Britain, the US Senate has ratified treaties with both allies to streamline military sales by eliminating most export licenses, officials said Thursday.
US President Barack Obama, whose administration had made the pacts a high priority, telephoned British Prime David Cameron to personally share the news, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.
'Its passage is evidence of the broad, bipartisan support that undergirds the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,' added Gibbs, who highlighted the treaty's potential for spurring job growth.
And US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared in a statement that the accords, ratified late Wednesday, 'recognize and support the long-standing special relationship between the United States and two of its closest allies.'"
