COMMITTEE UNANIMOUSLY PASSES IRAN NONPROLIFERATION ACT

Legislation Expected on House Floor Next Week

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The House Science yesterday unanimously passed H.R. 1883, the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 1999, by a 41-0 margin. This legislation is aimed at ensuring that U.S. tax dollars do not subsidize any Russian aerospace enterprises that the President determines are assisting Iran's efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles.

F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-WI), Chairman of the House Science Committee and an original co-sponsor of the bill, stated, "Make no mistake, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles to rogue states that may threaten U.S. interests will not be condoned. This bill will help strengthen existing law and policies ensuring that NASA does not, even unwittingly, subsidize Russian assistance to Iran's weapons proliferation efforts."

Ranking Minority Member Ralph M. Hall (D-TX) commented, "H.R. 1883 complements the Administration's ongoing and aggressive efforts to stem proliferation that may threaten the United States and its global allies. At the same time, in its markup yesterday, the Committee adopted several amendments that should ensure progress on the International Space Station will not be unnecessarily retarded by bureaucratic delays. In short, the bill strikes an appropriate balance between our security needs and our interests in international space cooperation."

Introduced by House International Relations Chairman Ben Gilman (R-NY) along with Chairman Sensenbrenner, House International Relations Committee Ranking Minority Member Sam Gedjenson (D-CT), and House International Relations Committee member Howard Berman (D-CA), the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 1999 aims to stop Iran's efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles.

The bill requires the President to report any credible evidence to Congress of technology transfers to Iran that violate existing arms control and nonproliferation treaties, agreements, and norms. Additionally, the bill prohibits extraordinary payments to Russia for goods and services related to the International Space Station unless: 1) the President determines that it is the policy of the Russian government to prohibit assistance to Iran's programs to acquire weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missiles; 2) the President determines that Russia is taking steps to implement such a policy; and, 3) the Russian Space Agency and the entities under its jurisdiction have not transferred technology useful to Iran's weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missile programs in the year prior to making such payments. The bill currently has 222 House co-sponsors.

The House International Relations Committee also passed H.R. 1883 by a 33-0 margin yesterday. H.R. 1883 is expected to be considered by the full House next week.

The Committee also considered and passed H.R. 356, To Provide for the Conveyance of Certain Property from the United States to Stanislaus County, California, sponsored by Rep. Gary Condit (D-CA). This legislation transfers to Stanislaus County some of the land currently owned by NASA at their Ames Research Center in California.

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