A new treaty to reduce American and Russan nuclear arsenals to 1,550 warheads was announced by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and will be signed on April 8 in Prague. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., said in a statement that it could strengthen resolve to expand the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at a May conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Speaking in Prague only a few hours after North Korea launched a test missile, Obama underscored his commitment to establishing a "world without nuclear weapons."

Obama said his administration will work to "strengthen the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a basis for cooperation." The president was clear in what he hopes to accomplish by doing this: "Countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them; and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy." He called for "more resources and authority to strengthen international inspections" and "real and immediate consequences for countries caught breaking the rules or trying to leave the treaty without cause."

The president added that Russia and the U.S. will also negotiate a new strategic arms reduction treaty this year and that his administration "will immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty."

Obama addressed the issue of nuclear power as energy versus as a weapon. He called on building a "new framework for civil nuclear cooperation, including an international fuel bank, so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation."

A day after Obama’s speech in Prague, Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg announced that Vice President Joe Biden will oversee the administration’s nonproliferation agenda.