[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 101 (Thursday, July 27, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1567-E1568]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   UNITED STATES AND INDIA NUCLEAR COOPERATION PROMOTION ACT OF 2006

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. JIM McDERMOTT

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 26, 2006

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 5682) to 
     exempt from certain requirements of the Atomic Energy Act of 
     1954 a proposed nuclear agreement for cooperation with India:

  Mr. McDERMOTT. Mr. Chairman, as a long time supporter of India and 
one of the co-founders of the India Caucus I have watched with 
gratification over the past decade as India and the United States have 
emerged as strategic partners. I believe the world's oldest and largest 
democracies have a lot to learn from and share with one another.
  I am concerned, however, that the Bush administration seems to have 
focused all of the energy in this bilateral relationship on the recent 
proposal to commence nuclear cooperation. I understand India's growing 
energy demands and shortages (a crisis which we in the United States 
also face) and I believe that our two countries should cooperate and 
share technologies to promote energy independence. That is why, despite 
serious reservations about the proposed U.S.-India nuclear cooperation 
agreement and the Bush administration's ability to properly implement 
it, I cosponsored H.R. 5682. I believe it is important that we continue 
to engage India on this important issue, and I supported this 
legislation to move this process along.
  But I have serious concerns with the agreement as it stands. India 
has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and

[[Page E1568]]

this type of arrangement with a nonsignatory to the treaty is 
unprecedented. Exporting American nuclear fuel to India has the 
potential to supplant the domestic uranium India is currently using to 
generate civilian nuclear power, freeing up this uranium for military 
purposes. I worry about the message this arrangement would send to the 
region and the world, and I do not believe further production of 
nuclear weapons is in India's or the South Asian region's best 
interests.
  Nuclear weapons remain the most dangerous threat to mankind, and I 
worry about a mistake in Mumbai or Islamabad. The idea that these 
weapons can be used tactically or surgically is nonsense; we should be 
working to scale down nuclear weapon production in the region, not 
escalate it.
  I do not believe this agreement is unworkable, but I do feel that 
there is one very important thing that India needs to do to move this 
forward: end its production of fissile material. This would show the 
U.S. and the world that this agreement is truly going to address 
India's domestic energy needs and not going to enhance its nuclear 
arsenal. To this end, I voted in support of the Berman/Tauscher 
amendment, which would withhold exports of nuclear reactor fuel to 
India until India stops producing fissile material for nuclear weapons.
  However, the Berman/Tauscher amendment failed. In the absence of an 
Indian commitment to end fissile material production, I cannot support 
moving forward at this time with this agreement. I hope that those of 
us who do not support an agreement in the absence of such a commitment 
do not send the wrong message to our Indian friends. We will continue 
to support India and there are many areas in which our two countries 
can continue to engage, including trade, space exploration, anti-
terrorism, and other defense cooperation. But I cannot in good 
conscience support an agreement that, even indirectly, increases 
India's nuclear weapons arsenal. I don't believe that serves India, the 
U.S., or the South Asian region well.

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