[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 48 (Thursday, March 25, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3575-S3577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      CONVENTION ON NUCLEAR SAFETY

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed

[[Page S3576]]

to executive session to consider the following treaty on today's 
Executive Calendar: No. 1. I further ask unanimous consent that the 
treaty be considered as having been passed through its various 
parliamentary stages up to and including the presentation of the 
resolution of ratification; all committee provisos, reservations, 
understandings, and declarations be considered agreed to; that any 
statements be printed in the Congressional Record. I further ask 
unanimous consent that when the resolution of ratification is voted 
upon, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, the President be 
notified of the Senate's action, and that following disposition of the 
treaty the Senate return to legislative session.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution of ratification, with its conditions and 
understandings, is as follows:
       Resolved (two-thirds of the Senators present concurring 
     therein),

     SECTION 1. SENATE ADVICE AND CONSENT SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS 
                   AND UNDERSTANDINGS.

       The Senate advises and consents to the ratification of the 
     Convention on Nuclear Safety, done at Vienna on September 20, 
     1994 (Senate Treaty Document 104-6), subject to the 
     conditions of section 2 and the understandings of section 3.

     SEC. 2. CONDITIONS.

       The advice and consent of the Senate to ratification of the 
     Convention on Nuclear Safety is subject to the following 
     conditions, which shall be binding upon the President:
       (1) Certification on the elimination of duplicative 
     activities.--
       (A) In general.--Not later than 45 days after the deposit 
     of the United States instrument of ratification, the 
     President shall certify to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress that the United States Government will not engage in 
     any multilateral activity in the field of international 
     nuclear regulation or nuclear safety that unnecessarily 
     duplicates a multilateral activity undertaken pursuant to the 
     Convention.
       (B) Limitation.--The United States shall not contribute to 
     or participate in the operation of the Convention other than 
     by depositing the United States instrument of ratification 
     until the certification required by subparagraph (A) has been 
     made.
       (2) Commitment to review reports.--Not later than 45 days 
     after the deposit of the United States instrument of 
     ratification, the President shall certify to the appropriate 
     committees of Congress that the United States will comment in 
     each review meeting held under Article 20 of the Convention 
     (including each meeting of a subgroup) upon aspects of safety 
     significance in any report submitted pursuant to Article 5 of 
     the Convention by any State Party that is receiving United 
     States financial or technical assistance relating to the 
     improvement in safety of its nuclear installations.
       (3) Limitation on the cost of implementation.--
       (A) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any provision of the 
     Convention, and subject to the requirements of subparagraphs 
     (B), (C), (D), and (E), the United States shall pay no more 
     than $1,000,000 as the portion of the United States annual 
     assessed contribution to the International Atomic Energy 
     Agency attributable to the payment of the costs incurred by 
     the Agency in carrying out all activities under the 
     Convention.
       (B) Recalculation of limitation.--
       (i) In general.--On January 1, 2000, and at 3-year 
     intervals thereafter, the Administrator of General Services, 
     in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall prescribe 
     an amount that shall apply in lieu of the amount specified in 
     subparagraph (A) and that shall be determined by adjusting 
     the last amount applicable under that subparagraph to reflect 
     the percentage increase by which the Consumer Price Index for 
     the preceding calendar year exceeds the Consumer Price Index 
     for the calendar year three years previously.
       (ii) Consumer price index defined.--In this subparagraph, 
     the term ``Consumer Price Index'' means the last Consumer 
     Price Index for all-urban consumers published by the 
     Department of Labor.
       (C) Additional contributions requiring congressional 
     approval.--
       (i) Authority.--Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), the 
     President may furnish additional contributions to the regular 
     budget of the International Atomic Energy Agency which would 
     otherwise be prohibited under subparagraph (A) if--

       (I) the President determines and certifies in writing to 
     the appropriate committees of Congress that the failure to 
     make such contributions for the operation of the Convention 
     would jeopardize the national security interests of the 
     United States; and
       (II) Congress enacts a joint resolution approving the 
     certification of the President under subclause (I).

       (ii) Statement of reasons.--Any certification made under 
     clause (i) shall be accompanied by a detailed statement 
     setting forth the specific reasons therefor and the specific 
     uses to which the additional contributions provided to the 
     International Atomic Energy Agency would be applied.
       (4) Complete review of information by the legislative 
     branch of government.--
       (A) Understanding.--The United States understands that 
     neither Article 27 nor any other provision of the Convention 
     shall be construed as limiting the access of the legislative 
     branch of the United States Government to any information 
     relating to the operation of the Convention, including access 
     to information described in Article 27 of the Convention.
       (B) Protection of information.--The Senate understands that 
     the confidentiality of information provided by other States 
     Parties that is properly identified as protected pursuant to 
     Article 27 of the Convention will be respected.
       (C) Certification.--Not later than 45 days after the 
     deposit of the United States instrument of ratification, the 
     President shall certify to the appropriate committees of 
     Congress that the Comptroller General of the United States 
     shall be given full and complete access to--
       (i) all information in the possession of the United States 
     Government specifically relating to the operation of the 
     Convention that is submitted by any other State Party 
     pursuant to Article 5 of the Convention, including any report 
     or document; and
       (ii) information specifically relating to any review or 
     analysis by any department, agency, or other entity of the 
     United States, or any official thereof, undertaken pursuant 
     to Article 20 of the Convention, of any report or document 
     submitted by any other State Party.
       (D) Reports to congress.--Upon the request of the chairman 
     of either of the appropriate committees of Congress, the 
     President shall submit to the respective committee an 
     unclassified report, and a classified annex as appropriate, 
     detailing--
       (i) how the objective of a high level of nuclear safety has 
     been furthered by the operation of the Convention;
       (ii) with respect to the operation of the Convention on an 
     Article-by-Article basis--

       (I) the situation addressed in the Article of the 
     Convention;
       (II) the results achieved under the Convention in 
     implementing the relevant obligation under that Article of 
     the Convention; and
       (III) the plans and measures for corrective action on both 
     a national and international level to achieve further 
     progress in implementing the relevant obligation under that 
     Article of the Convention; and

       (iii) on a country-by-country basis, for each country that 
     is receiving United States financial or technical assistance 
     relating to nuclear safety improvement--

       (I) a list of all nuclear installations within the country, 
     including those installations operating, closed, and planned, 
     and an identification of those nuclear installations where 
     significant corrective action is found necessary by 
     assessment;
       (II) a review of all safety assessments performed and the 
     results of those assessments for existing nuclear 
     installations;
       (III) a review of the safety of each nuclear installation 
     using installation-specific data and analysis showing trends 
     of safety significance and illustrated by particular safety-
     related issues at each installation;
       (IV) a review of the position of the country as to the 
     further operation of each nuclear installation in the 
     country;
       (V) an evaluation of the adequacy and effectiveness of the 
     national legislative and regulatory framework in place in the 
     country, including an assessment of the licensing system, 
     inspection, assessment, and enforcement procedures governing 
     the safety of nuclear installations;
       (VI) a description of the country's on-site and off-site 
     emergency preparedness; and
       (VII) the amount of financial and technical assistance 
     relating to nuclear safety improvement expended as of the 
     date of the report by the United States, including, to the 
     extent feasible, an itemization by nuclear installation, and 
     the amount intended for expenditure by the United States on 
     each such installation in the future.

       (5) Amendments to the convention.--
       (A) Voting representation of the united states.--A United 
     States representative--
       (i) will be present at any review meeting, extraordinary 
     meeting, or Diplomatic Conference held to consider any 
     amendment to the Convention Amendment Conferences; and
       (ii) will cast a vote, either affirmative or negative, on 
     each proposed amendment made at any such meeting or 
     conference.
       (B) Submission of amendments as treaties.--The President 
     shall submit to the Senate for its advice and consent to 
     ratification under Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the 
     Constitution of the United States any amendment to the 
     Convention adopted at a review meeting, extraordinary 
     meeting, or Diplomatic Conference.
       (6) Treaty interpretation.--
       (A) Principles of treaty interpretation.--The Senate 
     affirms the applicability to all treaties of the 
     constitutionally-based principles of treaty interpretation 
     set forth in condition (1) in the resolution of ratification 
     of the INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988.
       (B) Construction of senate resolution of ratification.--
     Nothing in condition (1) of the resolution of ratification of 
     the INF Treaty, approved by the Senate on May 27, 1988, shall 
     be construed as authorizing the President to obtain 
     legislative approval for modifications or amendments to 
     treaties

[[Page S3577]]

     through majority approval of both Houses of Congress.
       (C) Definition.--As used in this paragraph, the term ``INF 
     Treaty'' refers to the Treaty Between the United States of 
     America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the 
     Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter Range 
     Missiles, together with the related memorandum of 
     understanding and protocols, done at Washington on December 
     8, 1987.

     SEC. 3. UNDERSTANDINGS.

       The advice and consent of the Senate to the Convention on 
     Nuclear Safety is subject to the following understandings:
       (1) Dismantlement of the juragua nuclear reactor.--The 
     United States understands that--
       (A) no practical degree of upgrade to the safety of the 
     planned nuclear installation at Cienfuegos, Cuba, can 
     adequately improve the safety of the existing installation; 
     and
       (B) therefore, Cuba must undertake, in accordance with its 
     obligations under the Convention, not to complete the Juragua 
     nuclear installation.
       (2) IAEA technical assistance.--
       (A) Findings.--The Senate finds that--
       (i) since its creation, the International Atomic Energy 
     Agency has provided more than $50,000,000 of technical 
     assistance to countries of concern to the United States, as 
     specified in section 307(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 
     1961 (22 U.S.C. 2227(a)) and in provisions of foreign 
     operations appropriations Acts;
       (ii) the International Atomic Energy Agency has budgeted, 
     from 1995 through 1999, more than $1,500,000 for three 
     ongoing technical assistance projects related to the Bushehr 
     nuclear installation under construction in Iran; and
       (iii) the International Atomic Energy Agency continues to 
     provide technical assistance to the partially completed 
     nuclear installation at Cienfuegos, Cuba.
       (B) Sense of the senate.--The Senate urges the President to 
     withhold each fiscal year a proportionate share of the United 
     States voluntary contribution allocated for the International 
     Atomic Energy Agency's technical cooperation fund unless and 
     until the Agency discontinues the provision of all technical 
     assistance to programs and projects in Iran and Cuba.

     SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

       As used in this resolution:
       (1) Appropriate committees of congress.--The term 
     ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means the Committee on 
     Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on 
     International Relations of the House of Representatives.
       (2) Convention.--The term ``Convention'' means the 
     Convention on Nuclear Safety, done at Vienna on September 20, 
     1994 (Senate Treaty Document 104-6).
       (3) Nuclear installation.--The term ``nuclear 
     installation'' has the meaning given the term in Article 2(i) 
     of the Convention.
       (4) State party.--The term ``State Party'' means any nation 
     that is a party to the Convention.
       (5) United States instrument of ratification.--The term 
     ``United States instrument of ratification'' means the 
     instrument of ratification of the United States of the 
     Convention.

  Mr. ENZI. I ask for a division vote on the resolution of 
ratification.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the resolution 
of ratification. A division is requested. Senators in favor of the 
resolution of ratification will rise and stand until counted.
  Those opposed will rise and stand until counted.
  On a division, two-thirds of the Senators present and voting having 
voted in the affirmative, the resolution of ratification is agreed to.

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