Senators seek approval of Russian arms deal

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have written a letter to the Bush administration requesting that any new agreement with Russia on arms control be treated as a formal treaty, subject to Senate ratification.

The letter, dated March 15 and obtained by CNN Sunday, was addressed to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

It referred to Powell's February 5 testimony before the committee in which he said President Bush and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, were "hard at work" on an agreement to reduce offensive nuclear weapons.

Sens. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, and Jesse Helms, R-North Carolina, the authors of the letter, said that since any such deal would most likely include "significant obligations" by the United States on deployed U.S. strategic nuclear weapons, they are "convinced that such an agreement would constitute a treaty subject to the advice and consent of the Senate."

"With the exception of the SALT I agreement, every significant arms control agreement during the past three decades has been transmitted to the Senate pursuant to the Treaty Clause of the Constitution," the senators wrote. "We see no reason whatsoever to alter this practice."

The president has executive authority to negotiate or withdraw the United States from treaties without seeking congressional approval. But the Senate must ratify any new treaties.

Bush and Putin agreed verbally late last year to slash their respective offensive arsenals. Last week, Bush told reporters the administration was open to a "legally binding instrument."

The president added he had not yet decided whether he would submit any agreement to the Senate for formal ratification, since it is not clear what that "instrument" is going to be.

In his testimony, Powell said the discussions on mutual weapons reduction were part of a new "strategic framework" with Russia.

"We do expect that as we codify this framework," Powell said, "there will be something that will be legally binding, and we are examining different ways in which this can happen. It can be an executive agreement that both houses of Congress might wish to speak on, or it might be a treaty."

Biden and Helms said they expect the administration to have close consultation with the committee as negotiations with Russia go forward.

"No constitutional alternative exists to transmittal of the concluded agreement to the Senate for its advice and consent," they wrote.