Bush Nuclear Deal With Saudis Is Criticized in Congress
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida, expressed her concern today with the American decision to seek a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia.
Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen commented, “At a time when Saudi Arabia and its allies in the OPEC cartel are squeezing consumers with devastatingly high oil prices, the Bush Administration is rewarding the Kingdom with promises of future nuclear cooperation.”
The full statement from Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen is presented by The New York Sun below.
(WASHINGTON) – U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, commented on today’s notification to Congress of the Bush Administration’s intent to negotiate a nuclear cooperation agreement between Saudi Arabia and the United States. Statement of Ros-Lehtinen:
At a time when Saudi Arabia and its allies in the OPEC cartel are squeezing consumers with devastatingly high oil prices, the Bush Administration is rewarding the Kingdom with promises of future nuclear cooperation.
The potential consequences of spreading nuclear technology, facilities, and know-how to yet another unstable regime in the Middle East are alarming. Nuclearizing the most dangerous region in the world poses an enormous and unnecessary risk that has few or no benefits for this country.
Even as the Bush Administration is attempting to prevent oil-rich Iran from acquiring the means to manufacture nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear energy program, its policy is to help Saudi Arabia develop that same capacity. And it is doing so while encouraging many others to embrace nuclear power. It is only making worse France and Russia’s aggressive and irresponsible promotion of nuclear power throughout the Middle East. These and other countries are pursuing commercial gain at the expense of regional and global security.
The Administration must immediately stop pursuing new nuclear cooperation agreements with unstable regimes in the Middle East. Instead, it must conduct a sober and thorough review of the potential consequences of that policy for vital U.S. national interests before the damage becomes irreversible.
