Breaking News: Sen. Corker will vote for nuclear treaty
This just in:
Senator Corker (R-TN) has gone public, in an interview with The Cable today, he said he plans to vote yes on New START in Thursday’s Committee vote!
One of those GOP senators is Bob Corker (R-TN), who said Tuesday he will cosponsor the Lugar resolution on Thursday and vote in favor of the treaty at Thursday’s committee session.
“I think we’re moving in a very good direction,” Corker told The Cable. “Based on what I know now, I certainly plan on voting it out of committee.”
Now, he is careful to say that this does not necessarily mean he will vote yes on ratification, but he does support sending the treaty to the full Senate for their consideration.
This is great news! There was no reason for him to break the stalemate and make this statement, so this shows that momentum is moving in the right direction and that bipartisan support for this treaty just keeps growing.
And, it shows that he is probably feeling the heat of the 1100+ calls he’s gotten from all the Tennessee voters we’ve contacted through our phonebanking campaign with our partner organizations in Tennessee. Go us! We’ll need to keep up the pressure to keep him from backpedaling, and make sure he votes yes to ratify the actual treaty as well, but we have proof: grassroots pressure works!
Now, the downside is, in the same article Senator Kerry—the chairman of the committee—sounds doubtful about the floor vote happening during the current session, which ends on October 8th. But, we’re not losing hope yet. There are mixed messages coming from the hill, and many people are still optimistic about using this momentum and getting a vote scheduled on the Senate floor as early as September 28th! So, we need to keep it up and not let them off the hook.
Peace Action West and 24 of our partner organizations are phonebanking every day leading up to the Committee vote Thursday morning, and so far we’ve gotten hundreds of calls into Senate offices. This is our last chance to get those Committee votes, for real this time, so call your senator now, and ask your friends and family to call, too!