Nuclear Agreement with UAE is Encouraging, But Congress Will Examine It in Light of Nuclear Nonproliferation Goals, Berman Says Washington, DC - Congressman Howard L. Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released the following statement about the signing of a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates that the United States will reportedly sign tomorrow:
"The Committee will carefully consider this agreement when it is submitted to Congress. I'm encouraged that this agreement incorporates the UAE's public commitment not to enrich uranium or to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium - which can be used for nuclear bombs
- as a legally-binding obligation. This could be a significant advance in nonproliferation policy, and a model for future nuclear cooperation agreements. However, I and many other Members of Congress place a very high priority on the international effort to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability and will be analyzing this and any other nuclear cooperation agreement in the context of how it implicates the attainment of that goal."