“Today, President Bush’s State Department continued its three-year campaign to undermine the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by ignoring glaring nonproliferation problems with the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal.

“Today, the State Department claimed that if India tests a nuclear weapon, the deal would be terminated, but just last week the U.S. Ambassador to India said that India ‘will always have the sovereign right to conduct a test.’ The State Department also claimed today that the deal maintains our right to ‘seek the return of transferred [nuclear] materials and technology,’ but unlike other nuclear cooperation agreements, this agreement does not explicitly state a U.S. right of return should India test again. This double-speak is dangerous and misleading and must end.

“It is clear that the Bush administration has not seriously followed the requirements of the U.S. law in negotiating this deal. Now, the president’s attempt to force an immediate approval vote is compromising the ability of the Congress to scrutinize this agreement and fix its many problems.

“President Bush is desperate to boost his legacy, but if the Congress fails to carefully conduct the necessary oversight, the legacy left by this agreement will be one of blatant disregard for global security.”

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