U.S. House Opposition More Than Doubles Since Hyde Act Approval
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the founder and co-chair of the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation, commented on the House vote to approve the U.S.-India nuclear cooperation agreement by a vote of 298-117. More than twice as many members voted against the deal today as voted against the Hyde Act, the law that set conditions for the deal, two years ago.
 




"It is outrageous that such a critical vote, one that will forever change the global nonproliferation regime, was taken without the benefit of full Congressional review and oversight, as required by the law," said Rep. Markey. "This is a terrible bill that threatens the future of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime."

 

During last night's House debate of the deal, Rep. Markey led the opposition side.

 

"Most people think that this is a debate about India. It is not. We are all friends of India, and we are all united in the view that the United States and India share a bright future of strong relations. This is a debate about Iran. This is a debate about North Korea, about Pakistan, about Venezuela, about any other country in the world that harbors the goal of acquiring nuclear weapons," Rep. Markey argued during the debate.

 

"Flashing a green light to India sends a dangerous signal to all of those countries because these policies are interconnected. The Bush Administration argues that breaking the nuclear rules for India will not lead to broken rules for anyone else, but they are wrong. Like the financial crisis that is now gripping the globe, this disastrous nuclear deal will come back to haunt us because there is no bailout for a nuclear bomb."

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 27, 2008

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