Sec'y Clinton urges Senate to OK new nuke treaty

WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is telling a Senate committee that a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia would strengthen U.S. efforts to control the illicit spread of nuclear materials.

Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. The deal was signed by President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in April.

It would limit the number of each country's deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550, down from the current limit of 2,200. It replaces the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expired in December. To be ratified, the treaty needs 67 votes in the Senate. The Russian parliament hasn't yet acted on it.