Notable Quotes Archive
“The United States is committed to securing ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty… we ask that all the remaining Annex 2 States join us in moving forward toward ratification.”
–Opening remarks by Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance , at the Conference on Disarmament 24 Jan 2012
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"We're hoping that these strategic stability talks over the next eight months will start to kind of loosen these old ties that have been binding everybody."
–Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, 16 DEC 2012
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“We are under no illusions that negotiating an FMCT will be easy, given the difficulties of even starting the process. But a verifiable ban on the production of fissile material is in the interest of every man, woman and child on this planet. That is why it is worth the effort.”
–Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, December 13, 2011
“ … an FMCT has long been one of the key goals of multilateral arms control. A cutoff will provide a solid foundation for future disarmament efforts, and help to consolidate the arms control gains made since the end of the Cold War. An FMCT’s verifiable controls on fissile material production will play an important role by strengthening confidence among the relevant states and help to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons. The United States is firmly committed to making this treaty a reality.”
– Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, remarks for the Wilton Park Conference: Challenges of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime, December 13, 2011
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“I welcome today’s outcome of the vote in the Indonesian Parliament to ratify the [Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban] Treaty. By this historic decision, the gap keeping the treaty from entering into force has been narrowed down to eight countries.”
–Tibor Tóth, head of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization, December 6, 2011
“What I always like to say about the New START treaty database is that it is a living document: We have six-month comprehensive updates, but practically every single day there are notifications passed between Washington and Moscow to update the exact, real-time status of weapons in our forces.”
–Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, in an interview with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, November 2, 2011
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“I think we learned a lot in the 15 years of implementation of the older START treaty, and so for that reason, we’ve gotten off to a very quick start, a very quick beginning with implementation of on-site inspections under the New START treaty, and it has really been going rather smoothly up to this point.”
–Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, speaking at the New York Foreign Press Center, on October 20, 2011
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“Every state should recognize that the Provisional Technical Secretariat to the [Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization] (CTBTO) Preparatory Commission is – for all practical purposes – no longer ‘provisional’. The CTBTO and the International Monitoring System [IMS] and International Data Center [IDC] are now an essential part of today’s 21st century international security architecture that enables all states to detect and deter nuclear test explosions."
–"Time to Translate Words into Action: Statement of Nongovernmental Organization Representatives," Arms Control Association, September 23, 2011, www.armscontrol.org
“Reducing existing arsenals bolsters efforts to prevent additional states from getting nuclear weapons. Smaller arsenals and fewer states with nuclear weapons lessen the likelihood of nuclear terrorism. Transparent, safe nuclear power does as well.”
–United States Department of State, Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Speaking to Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND), September 19, 2011
“The New START treaty’s implementation is going very well. It’s been a bright spot in the U.S.-Russian relationship and we see it continuing to be an area of positive cooperation. So far, the process of treaty implementation has been very pragmatic, business-like, and positive – a continuation of the working relationship we established during the negotiations in Geneva.
Negotiators worked very hard to find innovative new mechanisms to aid in the verification of this treaty and the results of that work are already evident. The regime is simpler to implement than the original START treaty and it lessens disruptions to the day-to-day operations of both sides’ strategic forces, while allowing for effective verification of the treaty.”
– Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Remarks at the Atlantic Council, September 9, 2011.
“I would like to commend the Government of Kazakhstan for being the driving force in the celebration of the International Day against Nuclear Tests. Kazakhstan set an important example by unilaterally closing down the Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site in 1991.”
– H.E. Mr. Joseph Deiss, President of the 65th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, August 29, 2011.
"We urgently need new progress in achieving a world free of both nuclear tests and nuclear weapons. Current voluntary moratoriums on nuclear weapon tests are valuable, yet they are no substitute for a global ban. This is why it is urgent that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) enters into force as early as possible. It is a major element of the international disarmament and nonproliferation regime, and it deserves the active support of all states."
–UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, August 12, 2011.
"For the first time, we are receiving data about actual re-entry vehicle (warhead) loadings on Russia’s missiles and Russia receives the same data from us; on-site inspection procedures under New START allow the United States to confirm the actual number of warheads on any randomly selected Russian ICBM and SLBM. This verification task and inspection right did not exist under the START treaty."
– Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, speaking at the U.S. Strategic Command 2011 Deterrence Symposium in Omaha, Nebraska on August 4, 2011.
"[...] we exchanged diplomatic notes on the U.S. Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement. This brings into force a protocol that Sergey and I signed last year that commits both of our countries to dispose of no less than 34 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium on each side [...]"
– Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State, 13 July 2011
"When the [New START] treaty is fully implemented, it will result in the lowest number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads since the 1950s, the first full decade of the nuclear age.
–Rose Gottemoeller, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance, speaking at the Annual Security Review Conference on July 1, 2011.
"It is essential that the [CTBT] verification effort be enhanced through the adaptation and implementation of new ideas and through the paced adoption of novel technologies.”
– Lassina Zerbo, Project Executive speaking to the 750 scientists, diplomats and other participants attending the Science and Technology 2011 Conference in Vienna. The purpose of the conference was to involve the scientific community in discussing advances in science and technology relevant to test ban verification.
"For 20 years, we have had American inspectors on the ground keeping tabs on Russian nuclear weapons. On December 5, 2010, it will have been an entire year since we lost that ability to conduct on-site inspections and monitoring. If the Senate fails to ratify the New START treaty, those inspections will stop forever. Every day we wait is a day we lose insight into Russia's arsenal, and that makes us less safe."
- Lt. Gens. John Castellaw, Arlen Jameson, Donald Kerrick and Brig. Gen. John Adams, all retired, now members of Consensus for American Security, a nonpartisan group of security experts.
"We applaud the Senate Foreign Relation Committee’s strong bipartisan vote today to approve the New START Treaty. If ratified, this agreement will advance some of our most critical national security objectives."
- Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, September 16, 2010
"Through the trust it engenders, the cuts it requires and the flexibility it preserves, this treaty enhances our ability to do that which we have been charged to do: protect and defend the citizens of the United States,'' Mullen said. ''I am as confident in its success as I am in its safeguards."
– Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking at the official White House announcement of the New START treaty, Washington, DC, 26 March 2010
"It especially is important for the United States and Russia, who bear the responsibility, to continue the way forward on nonproliferation and to work as partners in the global effort to secure fissile materials and counter the threat of nuclear terrorism."
– Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, (U.S. State Department release, March 18, 2010).
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