Senate panel puts off vote on arms treaty with Russia

A Senate committee Tuesday delayed consideration of a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia, a sign that the White House and its Senate allies are still struggling to line up Republican votes for the pact.

Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was delaying a committee vote that had been scheduled for Wednesday until mid-September “to be responsive to the concerns of our members, so that we can build bipartisan consensus.”

The White House, Kerry and other supporters of the pact have been eager for quick action on the agreement, which is President Obama’s most visible foreign policy success.

But a number of Republican senators have been pushing for more time, arguing that their concerns have not been addressed. Some of them fear that the treaty could limit the ability of the United States to develop a missile defense system and that U.S. nuclear weapons facilities don’t have enough money for needed modernization.

The treaty would reduce the ceiling on each nation’s long-range nuclear warheads by about 30%.

The treaty appeared headed for swift approval when it was signed by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the spring. But the issue has become more politically charged as time has passed.

paul.richter@latimes.com