[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 115 (Thursday, July 11, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5034-S5035]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 2768. Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina submitted an amendment intended 
to be proposed by him to the bill S. 4638, to authorize appropriations 
for fiscal year 2025 for military activities of the Department of 
Defense, for military construction, and for defense activities of the 
Department of Energy, to prescribe military personnel strengths for 
such fiscal year, and for other purposes; which was ordered to lie on 
the table; as follows:

        At the end of title X, add the following:

     Subtitle I--International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2024

     SEC. 1096. SHORT TITLE.

       This subtitle may be cited as the ``International Nuclear 
     Energy Financing Act of 2024''.

     SEC. 1097. FINDINGS.

       Congress finds as follows:
       (1) Nuclear power provides clean energy with greater 
     reliability than wind or solar energy, and with comparable 
     life cycle greenhouse gas emissions.
       (2) According to W. Gyude Moore, the former Minister of 
     Public Works for Liberia, ``Obstacles to the financing of 
     nuclear power in emerging economies work to prevent countries 
     like my own from industrializing our economies and building 
     climate-resilient infrastructure. This is especially bad 
     timing as the next generation of nuclear technologies, 
     including small modular reactors and microreactors, are 
     especially suitable to emerging markets. Such restrictions 
     are an example of climate injustice, not a reaction against 
     it.''.
       (3) The People's Republic of China and the Russian 
     Federation have sought to export nuclear reactors to Europe, 
     Eurasia, Latin America, and South Asia using technologies 
     which, according to a 2017 study by Columbia University's 
     Center on Global Energy Policy, are associated with higher 
     safety risk than American and Japanese reactor designs.
       (4) In a 2019 letter to congressional leaders, 38 national 
     security experts emphasized the importance of nuclear energy 
     finance to counter Chinese and Russian ambitions, writing: 
     ``In the nuclear energy sector, the initial supply of a 
     reactor typically leads to the supplier's involvement 
     throughout the hundred-year life of the nuclear program, 
     enabling long-term influence on nuclear safety, security and 
     nonproliferation, as well as the ability to advance energy 
     security and broader foreign policy interests.''.
       (5) As Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the 
     International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote in Climate Change 
     and Nuclear Power 2020, ``Nuclear power, currently being 
     generated in 30 countries, is already reducing carbon dioxide 
     emissions by about two gigatons per year. That is the 
     equivalent of taking more than 400 million cars off the 
     road--every year.''. He continued, ``Nuclear power now 
     provides about 10 percent of the world's electricity, but it 
     contributes almost 30 percent of all low carbon electricity. 
     Nuclear power will be essential for achieving the low carbon 
     future which world leaders have agreed to strive for.''.

     SEC. 1098. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SUPPORT FOR 
                   NUCLEAR ENERGY.

       The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United 
     States Executive Director at the International Bank for 
     Reconstruction and Development and, as the Secretary deems 
     appropriate, the United States Executive Director at any 
     other international financial institution (as defined in 
     section 1701(c)(2) of the International Financial 
     Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)), to use the voice, 
     vote, and influence of the United States at the institution 
     to support financial assistance for the generation and 
     distribution of nuclear energy, consistent with the national 
     security interests of the United States.

     SEC. 1099. WAIVER AUTHORITY.

       The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the requirement of 
     section 1098 on a case-by-base basis upon notifying the 
     Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the 
     Committee on Financial Services of the House of 
     Representatives that the waiver is in the national interest 
     of the United States, with a detailed explanation of the 
     reasons therefor.

     SEC. 1099A. PROGRESS REPORT.

       The Chairman of the National Advisory Council on 
     International Monetary and Financial Policies shall include 
     in the annual report required by section 1701 of the 
     International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 262r) a 
     discussion of any progress made in promoting international 
     financial institution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of 
     such Act) assistance for nuclear energy.

[[Page S5035]]

  


     SEC. 1099B. SUNSET.

       This subtitle shall have no force or effect after the date 
     that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
                                 ______