One hundred and fifty-four nations have signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Only 47 have ratified it. Most of the rest are waiting to see what the United States does. President Clinton submitted the treaty to the Senate for ratification two years ago, but the Republican leadership did not schedule a vote. Then, in an abrupt turnaround, Majority Leader Trent Lott announced last week that a ratification vote would occur Oct. 12.
Ratification requires a two-thirds majority.
All 45 Democratic senators back the treaty, but enlisting the support of 22 Republicans will be an uphill battle. Indeed, by scheduling a vote Lott is attempting to kill the treaty. That's where Smith comes in. If he and other Republican senators will break party ranks, the United States can lead the world away from a broadening arms race in which an ever-growing list of countries compete to develop ever more powerful nuclear weapons. A comprehensive test ban treaty proved elusive during the Cold War, as weapons designers felt obliged to match and beat every nuclear advance made by the Soviet Union.