[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 259 Introduced in House (IH)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 259

                Calling for robust inspections in Iran.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              June 4, 2003

 Mr. Markey submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 
                the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
                Calling for robust inspections in Iran.

Whereas the spread of nuclear weapons threatens world peace and stability;
Whereas the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was written to 
        prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and has been signed by 188 
        countries around the globe;
Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency was created to perform 
        inspections and detect nuclear weapons programs and has 135 member 
        states;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran possesses an estimated 10 percent of the 
        world's reserves of oil and an estimated 20 percent of the world's 
        reserves of natural gas, yet, with assistance from the Russian 
        Federation, is constructing nuclear power plants, ostensibly to generate 
        electricity;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran is digging uranium mines and constructing 
        uranium processing plants and spent fuel reprocessing plants, which, 
        when combined with nuclear power plants, will allow the control of the 
        entire nuclear fuel cycle, ultimately leading to the accumulation of 
        both highly-enriched uranium and nuclear-weapons grade plutonium;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran was among the first countries to sign the 
        Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on July 1, 1968, 
        ratified the treaty on February 2, 1970, and is thus constrained by 
        international law from developing nuclear weapons;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran joined the International Atomic Energy 
        Agency in 1958 and, through its safeguards agreement with that Agency, 
        is required to allow inspections of all declared and suspected nuclear 
        and nuclear-related facilities;
Whereas the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran has publicly acknowledged 
        his nation's pursuit of all of the necessary nuclear components for the 
        construction of a nuclear bomb;
Whereas in 1997 the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded an Additional 
        Protocol that requires member states to submit an expanded declaration 
        that includes the identification of all buildings at any nuclear-related 
        facility, regardless of purpose, and grants inspectors greatly expanded 
        access rights, including access to nuclear-related locations at which 
        nuclear materials are not necessarily present and the ability to perform 
        large- and small-scale environmental surveys to determine compliance;
Whereas the Islamic Republic of Iran remains the only state party to the 
        International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards that has neither signed 
        nor ratified the Additional Protocol and has rejected calls for enhanced 
        International Atomic Energy Agency inspections to ensure only civilian 
        use for nuclear energy in that country; and
Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency has demonstrated the ability to 
        locate and secure illicit nuclear weapons programs when given both the 
        ability and the mandate to do so, but lacks the mandate to search for a 
        nuclear weapons program in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Now, therefore, 
        be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) expresses its deep concern that the Islamic Republic of 
        Iran may be attempting to acquire a nuclear weapons capability, 
        in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear 
        Weapons and that country's International Atomic Energy Agency 
        Safeguards Agreement;
            (2) calls on the President of the United States, the United 
        Nations Security Council, and other countries to urge the 
        Islamic Republic of Iran to accept an additional, safeguard-
        strengthening agreement that gives the International Atomic 
        Energy Agency far greater access in the Islamic Republic of 
        Iran to assure against the presence of undeclared facilities or 
        the diversion of materials or technologies from safeguarded 
        facilities; and
            (3) calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to demonstrate 
        its commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of 
        Nuclear Weapons and to peace and stability in the Middle East 
        by accepting such an agreement.
                                 <all>