Lawmakers voted 66-32 to take up the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which Obama has made a lynchpin of his efforts to "reset" relations with Russia amid Republican charges it will cripple US missile defense plans.

The margin showed Democrats within striking distance of the 67 votes needed to ratify the agreement, even as Republicans readied "treaty-killer" amendments and called for delaying action until a new US Congress convenes in January.

The agreement -- which has the support of virtually every present and former US foreign policy or national security heavyweight -- restricts each nation to a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, a cut of about 30 percent from a limit set in 2002, and 800 launchers and bombers.

The accord would also return US inspectors who have been unable to monitor Russia's arsenal since the treaty's predecessor lapsed in December 2009.

Republicans -- led by their number-two, Senator Jon Kyl -- have vowed to block ratification in 2010 and planned to force potentially politically painful votes on "treaty-killer" amendments that stood virtually no chance of passing.

In one such gambit, Republicans were to push to modify the treaty's non-binding preamble to strike language tying offensive nuclear weapons to defensive systems, an unmistakable reference to US missile defense plans.

Senator Kit Bond, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, condemned the treaty as "giving Russia essentially a vote on our missile defense decisions" and falling short on measures to verify Russian compliance.

"There's nothing more irresponsible than for my colleagues to push to vote on a treaty of this magnitude, affecting our national defense, without airing all of the issues and getting a full debate," he said.

But the Pentagon has said the preamble and treaty overall impose no missile defense limitations, and arms control experts warn changing the preamble would force the accord back to the negotiating table, effectively killing it.

Republicans were all-but-certain to fail in their quest to rally the 51 votes needed in the 100-seat Senate to amend the treaty, which Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed in April.

And Senate Foreign Relations Committee chair John Kerry, a Democrats, stressed that the pact has been available for review since then and that major senate committees have addressed key questions for months.

"The only question that remains is whether or not we will be remembered for approving New START and making America safer, or for finding excuses to delay and defer our core responsibility as senators," he said in a statement.

Republicans dropped one delay tactic -- forcing the entire treaty to be read aloud -- after the White House and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid blasted delays as dangerously undermining national security.

"This is a new low in putting political stunts ahead of our national security, and it is exactly the kind of Washington game-playing that the American people are sick of," said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs.

"Every day we delay is another day it is easier for terrorists to get their hands on a nuclear weapon," said Reid spokesman Jim Manley. "It is time for Republicans to put our security before political games."

The White House and Reid have predicted the treaty will win ratification this year in what would be a signal diplomatic victory six weeks after US voters routed Democrats in mid-term elections.

Democrats control 58 seats and need nine of the 42 Republicans to reach the 67 votes needed for ratification, but will need 14 Republicans when a new Congress convenes in January.

The White House has addressed Republican worries about funding the upkeep of the US nuclear arsenal by budgeting some 84.1 billion dollars over ten years for modernization and maintenance.

The Russian lower house of parliament, the State Duma, has indicated it will ratify the treaty only after its ratification by the US Senate.

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