While she has already announced her plans to retire from Congress, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the first woman to lead the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and currently the chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, is looking for Congress to have more power when it comes to nuclear cooperation with other countries.
On Wednesday, Ros-Lehtinen teamed up with U.S. Reps. William Keating, D-Mass., Ted Poe, R-Texas, and Brad Sherman, D-Calif., to unveil the “Nuclear Cooperation Reform Act.”
Currently, the Atomic Energy Act(AEA), which was passed in 1954, gives the White House more control of nuclear cooperation agreements with other countries. These agreements take effect after Congress has been in continual session for 90 days unless Congress adopts a joint resolution of disapproval which requires a two-thirds majority to override a presidential veto. Ros-Lehtinen’s bill, her office insisted, will “ensure that U.S. partner countries in any civilian nuclear cooperation agreement (known as 123 agreements for the section of the Atomic Energy Act that govern such agreements) renounce the pursuit of enrichment and reprocessing technologies and capabilities” and “will require a stronger Congressional approval process, including an affirmative vote, for U.S. nuclear cooperation agreements that fail to meet the so-called Gold Standard and will strengthen protections against nuclear proliferation.”
The South Florida Republican, who has been critical of President Donald Trump and who did not endorse his presidential bid in 2016, weighed in on why she brought the bill out.
“Nuclear cooperation agreements – especially in an unstable region like the Middle East – are very serious issues for U.S. national security and should always contain restrictions on the enrichment and reprocessing necessary for a nuclear weapon,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Agreements without these restrictions must be fully and openly scrutinized and debated and then face an up or down vote of approval from Congress. For too long, the executive branch has been able to minimize Congress’ role in approving these agreements, and it is time for the legislative branch to reassert its proper oversight role.”
“Congress must ensure that U.S. national security interests are not trumped by political concerns,” said Sherman. “By requiring stronger conditions for congressional approval of nuclear cooperation agreements, this bipartisan bill will enable Congress to raise the standards for these agreements, and add much-needed protections against nuclear proliferation.”
This week, Ros-Lehtinen and Sherman sent a letter to U.S. Energy Sec. Rick Perry and U.S. Deputy Sec. of State John Sullivan calling on the administration to “press for the inclusion of binding commitments against enrichment and reprocessing” as it works with Saudi Arabia on a nuclear cooperation agreement.
“Without such commitments and assurances, we feel it may be necessary to introduce a resolution of disapproval, and given the severity of the matter, we also feel it necessary to introduce a legislative fix to the Atomic Energy Act in order to assert Congressional oversight,” they wrote.
READ MORE FROM SUNSHINE STATE NEWS
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen Joins Congressional Dems on Bill Making National Security Offices More Diverse
