[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 88 (Thursday, May 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7528-S7529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 16--RELATIVE TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

  Ms. SNOWE submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                            S. Con. Res. 16

       (a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
       (1) Iran is aggressively pursuing a program to acquire and/
     or develop nuclear weapons;
       (2) the Director of Central Intelligence, in September of 
     1994, confirmed that Iran is manufacturing and stockpiling 
     chemical weapons; [[Page S7529]] 
       (3) Iran has opposed the Middle East peace process and 
     continues to support the terrorist group Hezballah in Lebanon 
     and radical Palestinian groups;
       (4) Iran has asserted control over the Persian Gulf island 
     of Abu Musa, which it had been previously sharing with the 
     United Arab Emirates;
       (5) during the last few years Iran has reportedly acquired 
     several hundred improved Scud missiles from North Korea;
       (6) Iran has moved modern air defense missile systems, 
     tanks, additional troops, artillery, and surface-to-surface 
     missiles onto islands in the Persian Gulf, some of which are 
     disputed between Iran and the United Arab Emirates;
       (7) Iran has already taken delivery of as many as 30 modern 
     MiG-29 fighter aircraft from the Russian Federation;
       (8) the Russian Federation has sold modern conventionally 
     powered submarines to Iran, which increases Iran's capability 
     to blockade the Straits of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf; and
       (9) the Russian Federation has continued to pursue a 
     commercial agreement intended to provide Iran with nuclear 
     technology despite being provided with a detailed description 
     by the President of the United States of Iran's nuclear 
     weapons program.
       (b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that 
     the Russian Federation should be strongly condemned if it 
     continues with a commercial agreement to provide Iran with 
     nuclear technology which would assist that country in its 
     development of nuclear weapons, and, if such transfer occurs, 
     that Russian would be ineligible for assistance under the 
     terms of the Freedom Support Act.

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I am submitting a resolution 
expressing the sense of Congress that the Russian Federation should be 
strongly condemned for continuing with a commercial agreement to 
provide Iran with nuclear technology which would assist that country in 
its development of nuclear weapons, and that such an agreement would 
make Russia ineligible for United States assistance under the terms of 
the Freedom Support Act.
  This past January, Russia signed a billion-dollar deal to sell 
nuclear power reactors to Iran. In the United States, this news was 
greeted with very strong concern that this Russian nuclear technology 
would be used to support Iran's nuclear weapons development program.
  At the recent summit in Moscow, Russian President Yeltsin was asked 
by President Clinton to cancel the reactor sale to Iran. Yeltsin would 
not. Instead, he offered us a fig leaf when he cancelled the Russian 
sale of a gas centrifuge to Iran and halted the training of 10 to 20 
Iran scientists a year in Moscow.
  Iran is aggressively pursuing a nuclear-weapons acquisition program. 
The CIA said last September that Iran probably could, with some foreign 
help, acquire a nuclear weapons capability within 8 to 10 years. And 
Iran is receiving that foreign help, and it is not just from the 
Russians. China is helping Iran build a nuclear research reactor, and 
in April it concluded a deal to sell Iran two light-water reactors. 
Pakistan, a country with its own significant nuclear weapons program, 
has reportedly provided key technical assistance to Iran.
  Iran's nuclear weapons program is not the only cause for concern. The 
Defense Department is increasingly concerned about--and is closely 
watching--the Iranian military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
  Let me just review some of the disturbing facts about this Iranian 
buildup. Iran has acquired as many as 30 Mig-29's out of a reported 
deal with Russia for 50 of these modern combat jets, and Russia has 
also sold Iran sophisticated air-to-air missiles to arm these aircraft. 
Iran has received numerous surface-to-air missile systems from both 
Russia and China. Iran's submarine force consists of two modern 
Russian-made Kilo-class submarines, and a third is expected to be 
delivered. Russia also provided Iran with sophisticated torpedoes for 
these subs.
  In addition, despite U.S. pressure, Poland is going ahead with the 
planned sale to Iran of over 100 T-72 tanks, and Iran has also taken 
delivery of several hundred other T-72's from Russia. And over the last 
few years Iran has reportedly acquired several hundred improved Scud 
missiles from North Korea.
  Iran has asserted control over the Persian Gulf island of Abu Musa, 
which it had been previously sharing with the United Arab Emirates. And 
Iran has moved air defense missile systems, tanks, additional troops, 
artillery, and surface-to-surface missiles onto islands in the Persian 
Gulf, some of which are disputed between Iran and the United Arab 
Emirates.
  Mr. President, Iran's military buildup in the Persian Gulf and its 
aggressive nuclear program should be of serious concern to us all. Iran 
has opposed the Middle East peace process and continues to support the 
terrorist group Hezballah in Lebanon and radical Palestinian groups. 
And whether Russia realizes it or not, Iran also poses a long-term 
threat to them as well. A nuclear-armed Iran poses just as great a 
threat to Russia as it does to United States interests in the Persian 
Gulf and the Middle East. President Clinton tried to reason with the 
Russians earlier this month, but they refused to listen. Russia's 
misguided commercial agreement to sell nuclear technology to Iran 
should be condemned.


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