Tennessean Runs Editorial, Op-ed Urging Sen. Corker to Vote for New START

Earlier this week, The Tennessean published both an editorial and an op-ed urging Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) to vote yes on the New START Treaty.  Senator Corker, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is considered an important vote on the treaty.

The Tennessean op-ed, "Corker's Can be a Pivotal Voice" was authored by Rev. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, founding director of the Ploughshares-funded Two Futures Project.  According to Rev. Wigg-Stevenson,

Bob Corker has defied type casting for a freshman senator. Though his conservative credentials are unimpeachable, he has also emerged as a go-to leader in the Capitol for getting work done across party lines.

Tennesseans should urge him to continue in this vein by leading his fellow Republicans to support the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote scheduled July 27.

The piece penned by The Tennessean's editorial board echoed Rev. Wigg-Stevenson's remarks.  In "Nuclear Treaty Jeopardized by Politics," the editorial board calls for the Senate to put national security above politics and ratify the treaty quickly:

New START is not is a political foot ball to be tossed about by ambitious politicians and pseudo-celebrities with a foggy knowledge of world history. Nuclear weapons are not toys, and administration of arsenals is not a game. Sixty-seven votes are need in the Senate to ratify this treaty. We urge Tennessee Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker to do their part to ensure the United States and the world get a New START.