Press Briefing:
Understanding New START and the Nuclear Posture Review

April 7, 2010
8:15-10:00 am
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 1, 2010
CONTACT: John Isaacs, Executive Director, CACNP 202.546.0795, ext. 2222; Tom Collina, Research Director, ACA 202.463.8270, ext. 104; Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director, ACA, 202.463.8270, ext. 107

(Washington, D.C.): U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are planning to sign the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) on April 8 in Prague. This new treaty would set lower bilateral limits on strategic nuclear forces, capping deployed warheads and bombs at 1,550 and deployed and non-deployed delivery systems at 800. The treaty would also establish a new verification system to directly count deployed warheads.

During the week of April 5 the Obama administration is also expected to release its top-to-bottom Nuclear Posture Review, which the President has said will reduce the roles and missions of U.S. nuclear weapons and set the future direction of U.S. nuclear policy.

On April 7, four leading U.S. experts on nuclear weapons policy, arms control, and Congress will review the details of New START, assess its importance to U.S. and global security, review the prospects for Senate ratification, and analyze the Nuclear Posture Review.

TIME: Wednesday April 7, 8:00-10:00 AM. A light breakfast will be served.

LOCATION: Old Ebbitt Grill (Cabinet Room), 675 15th St., NW, Washington D.C.

Space is limited. Please RSVP to Eric Auner at eauner@armscontrol.org or 202.463.8270, ext. 105

Amb. Linton Brooks served during the George W. Bush administration as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration and during the George H.W. Bush administration as Chief U.S. Negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

Morton H. Halperin is senior advisor to the Open Society Institute and was a member of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, which released its report last May. He served in the Clinton, Nixon, and Johnson administrations working on nuclear policy and arms control and is the author of numerous books and articles on this subject.

John D. Isaacs is the Executive Director of the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation. He is a longtime leader of the nation's arms control community, an expert on nuclear policy and national politics, and has deep knowledge on the workings of Congress. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Arms Control Association.

Daryl G. Kimball, panel moderator, is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association and publisher of ACA's journal Arms Control Today. He has written on nuclear arms control and nonproliferation for twenty years and has led major public policy campaigns to reduce the threats posed by nuclear weapons.