With Nuclear Rules Weakened for US-India Deal, Other Countries Move to Take Advantage 

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, today responded to news that China would assist Pakistan in constructing two new nuclear reactors:

"In a last-minute effort to post accomplishments in the waning days of his administration, President Bush pushed for an unwise nuclear agreement with India, undoing decades of vital arms control policy.  Today's announcement of new nuclear reactors in Pakistan to be built with China's help will ensure that this failed administration will indeed leave behind a distinct legacy, though not the kind that arms control experts and historians will judge favorably.

"The Bush administration told the world that the U.S.-India nuclear deal was unique, but just as many experts warned all along, Pakistan and China clearly have a different idea. By destroying the nuclear rules for India, President Bush has weakened the rules for everyone else.  Pakistan and China will be the first, but almost certainly not the last, to take advantage of this periously weakened system."

Rep. Markey led the opposition in Washington to the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal, and warned for several years that Pakistan would seek to match the U.S.-India nuclear deal, and that China would most likely assist Pakistan.

For more information on Rep. Markey's work on the U.S.-India deal: http://markey.house.gov/index.php?option=com_issues&task=view_issue&issue=31&parent=10&Itemid=152

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