U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced a resolution in the Senate (S.Con.Res. 107) expressing support for the upcoming Sixth Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. Senator Akaka, ranking Democratic member on the Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services, offered the resolution to reaffirm Congressional support for the objectives of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and urge all parties participating in the review conference to work to ensure the conference's success. Senator Akaka's remarks in the Senate follow:
Mr. President, I rise today to introduce a Senate Concurrent Resolution expressing the sense of the Congress concerning support for the Sixth Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.
The Sixth Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference will begin on April 24th in New York City. For the first time since the member parties agreed five years ago to a permanent extension to this important arms control agreement, states will be meeting to discuss additional efforts to strengthen the treaty.
Thirty years ago, this treaty entered into force with 43 signatories. The number of parties to the agreement has increased to 187. Only four states – India, Pakistan, Israel, and Cuba – are not members.
At the time of the last review conference in 1995, members agreed to hold review meetings every five years to assess progress in implementing efforts to attain the treaty's objectives.
The resolution that I am introducing today, along with Senators Baucus, Kerry, Roth and Bingaman, reaffirms Congressional support for the objectives of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and calls on all parties participating in the review conference to make a good faith effort to ensure the conference's success. A similar resolution is being introduced in the House of Representatives.
Many states have called into question American commitment to the control of nuclear weapons because of the Senate vote last year on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and because of fears that the American development of a national missile and theater missile defense systems are efforts to negate the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM).
I believe that Congressional support for the NPT and for other workable arms control agreements that achieve serious reductions in weapons of mass destruction is as strong as ever. The Congress will be looking very closely at this conference for reassurance that the other parties to the NPT, most especially the other nuclear weapons states such as China and Russia, share an equal commitment to attaining the objectives of the NPT. There have been suggestions that states will attempt to disrupt the conference by walking out or by proposing resolutions critical of the United States and other states. Such efforts will damage the treaty and give satisfaction only to those countries, such as Iraq and Iran, who still appear to desire nuclear weapons.
Our resolution also expresses support for strengthening the international verification system operated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). When the NPT was negotiated in 1970, the IAEA safeguards system was designated as its global verification mechanism. IAEA inspectors review the nuclear programs of all non-nuclear weapon members and, while the five legally recognized nuclear weapons states -- Britain, France, China, Russia, United States -- are not obligated to permit inspections, in practice IAEA has some access to their facilities.
The Gulf War revealed inadequacies in the IAEA safeguard system. The discovery of Iraq's secret nuclear program demonstrated the need for additional IAEA powers of information collection and inspection. Efforts are now underway to develop a Strengthened Safeguards system of which a critical part will be a new inspection protocol providing IAEA inspectors additional authority to collect more information about a wider range of activities. This new information and access will be critical to detecting states, such as Iraq and Iran, who may try to develop secretly a nuclear weapon.
There is no greater threat to America's security than the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The Nonproliferation Treaty and the role of the IAEA are essential parts of our efforts to prevent nuclear catastrophe. I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this resolution and ensuring its speedy consideration.
