Washington, DC: Today, Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA), co-chair of the House Bipartisan Taskforce on Nonproliferation and a senior member of the House Homeland Security Committee, cried foul at President Bush issuing a “signing statement” on the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal in which the President appears to have reserved the right to ignore portions of the India legislation that he does not like.

Rep. Markey said, “With yet another infamous ‘signing statement,’ President Bush is declaring that he can ignore the will of Congress when it comes to ensuring India doesn’t aid Iran’s fledgling nuclear program.  These Bush signing statements are an egregious abuse of the separation of powers, in which the Executive declares itself above and beyond any limitations or policies enacted by the Congress, even as he signs them into law.”

In his signing statement, the President reserved the right to ignore Congress’s demand for annual reports on India’s behavior in a number of areas, including its support of U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and whether India is complying with its commitments under the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal.  In claiming the right to ignore the law’s requirement for reports to Congress, the President referenced his “constitutional authority to protect and control information that could impair foreign relations…”

Markey continued, “Does the President mean that it could ‘impair’ our foreign relations with India if Congress found out that India broke their agreement with us?  Of course it’s true that if India insists on defending Iran’s nuclear program, for example, reporting this publicly could ‘impair’ the relations of our two nations.  But the President doesn’t get to choose what it tells the Congress because he’s bound by the statute he just signed into law.”

Another particularly disturbing provision of the law that the President wants to reserve the right to ignore is a requirement that the United States follow the export guidelines of the Nuclear Suppliers Group when transferring nuclear technologies and materials to India.  This requirement is contained in section 104(d)2) of the new law.

“The United States created the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in order to develop a system that could control nuclear transfers around the world and hopefully prevent nuclear weapons proliferation.  The Congress recognized the fundamental importance of the NSG to international nonproliferation efforts, and required that the United States abide by its guidelines with our transfers to India.  That’s not a difficult requirement, because it is already U.S. policy to follow NSG guidelines, and our government has strenuously objected to Russian attempts to bypass these international guidelines.  The President indicates in this signing statement that he reserves the right to ignore the Nuclear Suppliers Group.  He is turning decades of U.S. international policy on its head – and thumbing his nose at Congress at the same time.” Markey concluded. 

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