White House raises New START offer

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is offering to add billions of dollars in funding for the U.S. nuclear stockpile in a deal that it hopes will win enough Republican support for approval of a nuclear arms control treaty with Russia.

White House officials outlined the proposal to Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., who is seen as the key to winning enough support to ratify the New START treaty, according to a congressional aide briefed on the proposal Friday.

The offer was for a boost of $4.1 billion in funding between 2012-’16 for the nuclear weapons complex that will go to maintaining and modernizing the arsenal and the laboratories that oversee that effort.

The administration is scrambling to get enough Republican support in the Senate to ratify the New START treaty before the Democrats’ majority shrinks by six in January.

The aide said the administration’s offer is contingent on passing the treaty before the end of the year.

Some Republicans have argued that the treaty does not provide adequate procedures to verify that Russia is living up to its terms.