Reid: Treaty buffs Obama as Nobel Prize winner

[December 23, 2010]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid says the Senate's ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia solidifies President Barack Obama's role as a world leader.

He tells The Associated Press that the treaty was about the standing of the United States in the world community and whether Obama deserved the Nobel Peace Prize. Reid says Obama has turned around American foreign policy.

Reid made the comment Wednesday evening, hours after the Senate ratified the treaty on a 71-26 vote.

Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, less than a year into his presidency. Some said he was awarded the world's top peacemaking prize prematurely.

[Associated Press; By LAURIE KELLMAN]

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