United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act

UNITED STATES-INDIA PEACEFUL ATOMIC ENERGY COOPERATION ACT -- (Senate - November 16, 2006)

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I rise in strong support of the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act. I particularly express my gratitude to the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman Lugar, for his outstanding work on this bipartisan piece of legislation that advances our strategic relationship with India while also bringing India into the mainstream of international nonproliferation efforts.

I am delighted to be the cochair, along with Senator HILLARY CLINTON, of the United States-India caucus in the Senate, actually something we resurrected just a couple short years ago that had fallen by the wayside.

After my own visit to India and in consultation with a number of Indian-American constituents who live in Texas--about 200,000 live in my State alone--I became absolutely convinced that a closer relationship with the great nation of India and its people was essential to our security interests and essential to our economic interests.

As our colleagues know and as has been mentioned by a number of our Members, Prime Minister Singh visited Washington last summer and President Bush paid a visit to India this spring. These events mark a critical milestone in our improving relationship. Passage of this legislation will mark another significant step and I daresay cement what is a very important relationship to both nations.

President Bush made a fundamental foreign policy objective to move the United States-India relationship to a new level. As Secretary Rice has said, our relationship with India is one of the most important partnerships the United States can have in the 21st century.

As has been often noted, India is the world's largest democracy, while we are the world's oldest democracy, and our two great nations share so many common values and common beliefs. It is only appropriate that the United States and India become true strategic partners as we move into the 21st century. Fortunately, the days of the Cold War, when India was more aligned with the Soviet Union than with the United States, are in the long past. The United States and India share a common vision for our future. It is a peaceful vision where we battle terrorism together, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, HIV/AIDS, and a host of other challenges that face our world today.

While it is true that the agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation is a significant departure from previous U.S. policy, I strongly believe this legislation represents a positive step as we grow our strategic relationship.

For more than 30 years, the United States and India have disagreed over India's decision not to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. As such, the United States has not cooperated with the Nation of India on any civilian nuclear technology to speak of. In short, we have been at a stalemate which has neither served our nonproliferation goals, nor helped India's vast needs for energy resources. Fortunately, this carefully crafted legislation will allow us to move forward in a responsible manner. The agreement, in fact, enhances our nonproliferation efforts.

It is correct to say that India is not a signatory to the nonproliferation treaty. They have decided for their own national security reasons that they will not become a party to the treaty, and no amount of international pressure is likely to change that conclusion. This is the reality we face, and the status quo for another 30 years is simply not acceptable. Recognizing this reality, we must ask ourselves, What can we do to promote nonproliferation efforts with India and bring them into the international nonproliferation regime? This legislation provides that answer.

Despite not signing the nonproliferation treaty, India, for the record, has an excellent nonproliferation record. They understand, perhaps as well as anyone, the danger of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This is why India has agreed to adhere to key international nonproliferation efforts on top of their own stringent export control regime. This is a significant step forward which has been welcomed by the International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, who understands India will not come into the nonproliferation treaty by traditional means but can be accommodated through this route.

I conclude by noting that the United States is fortunate, indeed, to have many Indian Americans who have helped bring our two nations closer together. As I have noted, many of them live in my State, as they do around this great country, contributing to our brainpower, to our economy. Frankly, this community is one of the hardest working, most accomplished communities in our Nation today. There are about 200,000 of them living in Texas, and nearly 80,000 Indian students are studying at our Nation's colleges and universities. Their contributions to our Nation and the United States-India relationship have been remarkably positive.

I encourage my colleagues to support this legislation, to advance our strategic relationship with India while also bringing India into the mainstream of international nonproliferation efforts.

I yield the floor.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

http://thomas.loc.gov/