1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Preventing the Spread of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019”.
Preventing the Spread of Nuclear Weapons Act of 2019
A BILL
To require congressional approval for civilian nuclear cooperation under certain circumstances, and for other purposes.
2. Findings
Congress makes the following findings:
The statement by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey on September 4, 2019, that he “cannot accept” a state of affairs in which Turkey has no missiles armed with nuclear warheads follows other concerning statements from senior officials that the Government of Turkey may pursue a nuclear-weapons capability, which runs counter to its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and the bipartisan United States objective of negotiating a weapons of mass destruction-free zone in the Middle East.
A United States civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with Turkey, signed in 2008 and up for automatic renewal in 2023, does not currently have to be submitted for congressional review, denying Congress the opportunity to insist upon a renewed agreement—a prohibition on Turkey’s enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium on its own territory in keeping with the strongest possible nonproliferation “gold standard”.
3. Congressional approval required for civilian nuclear cooperation agreements under certain circumstances
In general— Notwithstanding any other requirements under section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153), the President, concurrent with submitting a proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with a foreign country in accordance with the requirements of such section 123, and 60 days prior to the renewal of any pre-existing civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, shall submit to Congress a report—
declaring any credible evidence that the foreign country intends, conditionally or unconditionally, to pursue a nuclear program that is not inherently peaceful, including public statements to that effect by a senior leader of that foreign country;
citing any instance in which the foreign government has violated the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, or the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, or otherwise violated international standards with respect to the development, storage, deployment, or use of weapons of mass destruction;
stating whether or not the foreign government has committed to not enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium on its own territory concurrent to a submitted proposed civilian nuclear cooperation agreement or a renewal of any pre-existing civilian nuclear cooperation agreement; and
stating whether or not the foreign government has committed to sign and ratify the Additional Protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards Agreement.
Required actions— If a report submitted under subsection (a) describes any known instance set forth under paragraphs (1) and (2) of such subsection, then, notwithstanding any other requirements under section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2153), the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the foreign country in question, or the renewal of any pre-existing agreement, may only enter into effect on or after the date on which both of the following conditions have been met:
The President has submitted a proposed agreement with the foreign country in accordance with the requirements of such section 123.
On or after the date of the submission of the proposed agreement under paragraph (1), a joint resolution stating that Congress approves such agreement has been enacted.
Exemptions— The requirements under subsection (b) do not apply to any country that—
is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; and
is a Nuclear Weapon State as defined by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Definitions— In this section:
Biological Weapons Convention— The term Biological Weapons Convention means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological and Toxin Weapons and on their Destruction, done at Washington, London, and Moscow, April 10, 1972.
Chemical Weapons Convention— The term Chemical Weapons Convention means the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, done at Paris, January 13, 1993.
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty— The term Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty means the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, done at Washington, London, and Moscow, July 1, 1968.