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65–797PDF 2011

TO AMEND THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954 TO REQUIRE

CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS FOR PEACEFUL

NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND

FOR OTHER PURPOSES; FURTHERING INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR SAFETY ACT OF 2011; ASSESSING PROGRESS IN HAITI

ACT; AND BELARUS DEMOCRACY REAUTHORIZATION ACT

OF 2011

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H.R.1280, H.R. 1326, H.R. 1016 and H.R. 515

APRIL 14, 2011

Serial No. 112–36

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

DAN BURTON, Indiana 

ELTON GALLEGLY, California 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

DONALD A. MANZULLO, Illinois 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

RON PAUL, Texas 

MIKE PENCE, Indiana 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

CONNIE MACK, Florida 

JEFF FORTENBERRY, Nebraska 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

JEAN SCHMIDT, Ohio 

BILL JOHNSON, Ohio 

DAVID RIVERA, Florida 

MIKE KELLY, Pennsylvania 

TIM GRIFFIN, Arkansas 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

ANN MARIE BUERKLE, New York 

RENEE ELLMERS, North Carolina 

VACANT 

HOWARD L. BERMAN, California 

GARY L. ACKERMAN, New York 

ENI F.H. FALEOMAVAEGA, American 

Samoa 

DONALD M. PAYNE, New Jersey 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

RUSS CARNAHAN, Missouri 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

DENNIS CARDOZA, California 

BEN CHANDLER, Kentucky 

BRIAN HIGGINS, New York 

ALLYSON SCHWARTZ, Pennsylvania 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

FREDERICA WILSON, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

YLEEM D.S. POBLETE, Staff Director 

RICHARD J. KESSLER, Democratic Staff Director 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP OF 

H.R. 1280, To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to require congressional 

approval of agreements for peaceful nuclear cooperation with foreign countries, and for other purposes ............................................................................... 2

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1280 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida, and chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs ................... 14

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a subsitute to H.R. 1280 

offered by the Honorable Brad Sherman, a Representative in Congress 

from the State of California ............................................................................. 34

H.R. 1326, Furthering International Nuclear Safety Act of 2011 ....................... 41

Amendment to H.R. 1326 offered by the Honorable Jeff Fortenberry, a 

Representative in Congress from the State of Nebraska .............................. 50

Amendment to H.R. 1326 offered by the Honorable Gerald E. Connolly, 

a Representative in Congress from the Commonwealth of Virginia ............ 65

H.R. 1016, Assessing Progress in Haiti Act .......................................................... 66

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1016 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ....................................................................... 75

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 1016 

offered by the Honorable Gerald E. Connolly ................................................ 86

H.R. 515, Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011 ................................. 89

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 515 offered by the Honorable Christopher H. Smith, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New Jersey .................................................................................................... 102

Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 515 

offered by the Honorable Gerald E. Connolly ................................................ 118

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

The Honorable Dana Rohrabacher, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of California: Science & Technology article entitled ‘‘The Nuclear 

Power Revolution, Modular High-Temperature Reactors Can Change the 

World,’’ by Marjorie Mazel Hecht, November 21, 2008 ..................................... 55

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 122

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 123

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 125

The Honorable Eliot L. Engel, a Representative in Congress from the State 

of New York: Prepared statement on H.R. 1016 ............................................... 127

(1)

TO AMEND THE ATOMIC ENERGY ACT OF 1954 TO REQUIRE 

CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF AGREEMENTS FOR 

PEACEFUL NUCLEAR COOPERATION WITH FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES; FURTHERING INTERNATIONAL NUCLEAR SAFETY ACT OF 2011; ASSESSING 

PROGRESS IN HAITI ACT; AND BELARUS DEMOCRACY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2011

THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2011

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:10 a.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 

(chairman of the committee) presiding. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. The committee will please come to 

order. I am pleased to convene this markup meeting of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. We have four bipartisan measures before 

us today. We received word last night that due to the CR timing 

issues with the Senate, the House will be convening for legislative 

business an hour earlier than previously expected, leaving us less 

time for our committee business this morning. So restraint and 

brevity would be very much appreciated to allow us to work as efficiently as possible. And we know that several members have other 

markups, one of them being Judiciary. So members are given leave 

to insert remarks into the record should they choose do so. 

Pursuant to notice for purposes of a markup, I call up the bill 

H.R. 1280, To amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, and for other 

purposes. Without objection, this bill will be considered as read and 

open for amendment at any point and the bipartisan amendment 

in the nature of a substitute that members have before them will 

be considered as read and as base text for purposes of amendments. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Before turning to the ranking member, 

I recognize myself to speak on this measure. 

This amendment in the nature of a substitute represents a broad 

bipartisan consensus on a much-needed reform of the Atomic Energy Act and contains contributions from several members of this 

committee, most especially from the ranking member, Mr. Berman. 

Its principal purpose is to enhance the role of Congress in approving nuclear cooperation agreements with other countries as well as 

to strengthen protections against peaceful nuclear cooperation 

being misused for military purposes. If a country meets the nonproliferation conditions in the Atomic Energy Act, as amended by 

this bill, the approval process would continue as before; that is, a 

congressional review period of 90 days of continuous session, after 

which the agreement would go into effect unless we adopt a resolution of disapproval. 

The new conditions in this bill are essential to strengthening the 

nonproliferation regime and include such basic steps as requiring 

that the other country: Is closely cooperating with the U.S. to prevent terrorists from acquiring weapons of mass destruction; is not 

a Destination of Diversion Concern under the Comprehensive Iran 

Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010; has acceded 

to the major international conventions regarding nuclear, chemical, 

and biological weapons; and has established an effective export control system to prevent goods and materials being sent to countries 

for use in nuclear weapons programs. The country must also agree 

to forego manufacturing nuclear fuel by enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium, unless it already has this capacity in place 

when it signs its agreement with the United States. 

Further, this bill specifies that a proposed agreement with a 

country that does not meet all of these requirements in the amended AEA will require an affirmative vote by both Houses of Congress. 

There are a number of other important provisions in this bill, 

such as the termination of assistance to any country that withdraws from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a prohibition of 

assistance to any country that is actively engaged in proliferation, 

and a requirement that the President keep this committee and its 

Senate counterpart fully and currently informed on new and ongoing negotiations, among others. 

It is important that Congress act now to put these new protections in place so that cooperation between the U.S. and other countries to promote peaceful nuclear activities can grow without fear 

that it will be used to undermine our national security and that of 

the world as a whole. 

With that, I am so pleased to recognize my good friend the ranking member for any remarks he might have on the measure that 

he has worked so hard on. 

Mr. BERMAN. Madam Chairman, thank you very much, and I 

particularly thank you for your willingness to work with us. This 

was an issue that we both feel very strongly about and share the 

same goal on. We had, sadly, different approaches. We were able 

to meld them and I think it is a great way to start off the first 

markup of your chairmanship in terms of the process we were able 

31

to engage in. And I wanted you to know that I appreciate your cooperation and the cooperation and efforts of your staff very much. 

One other point before I get into my opening comments, and that 

is that for those of us who serve on both the Foreign Affairs Committee and Judiciary, this is one of those days that frustrate us because in both committees we have markups here on some very important pieces of legislation. In the Judiciary Committee, they are 

marking up patent legislation which I had sponsored 3 years ago, 

and this is the bill that Dana Rohrabacher, the gentleman from 

California, my good friend, called the worst bill he had ever seen, 

until he saw several other of my bills. So I will be a little bit in 

and out, unfortunately, on the subject of this bill. 

The nuclear nonproliferation regime needs to be strengthened to 

better address the enrichment of uranium and the processing of 

spent fuel along with new technologies that can create fuel for 

peaceful nuclear reactors or fuel for nuclear weapons. So far efforts 

to limit the spread of these technologies have met with limited success. With Iran’s and North Korea’s development of these technologies, aided in large part by the A.Q. Khan network, they have 

become even more difficult to control. 

This is why the example of the recent U.S.-UAE Nuclear Cooperation Agreement is so important. The UAE on its own decided 

to foreswear enrichment and reprocessing. When the U.S. asked 

the UAE if it would formalize these restrictions in a legally binding 

commitment, they readily agreed. And this applies not only to nuclear fuel and equipment provided by the United States but fuel 

and equipment provided by any country. 

A State Department spokesman subsequently called this the gold 

standard for nuclear cooperation agreements, and I agree. Unfortunately, I understand there is a split within the U.S. Government 

over whether the gold standard ought to be applied globally to new 

cooperation agreements or just be limited to those with countries 

in the Middle East. In my view, the latter course would be a mistake. This continuing split over the gold standard is one reason we 

are considering a bill today. I urge the President to support a global application of that advanced standard. 

I also urge the administration to use all its influence to convince 

the other nuclear supplier states to adopt the same nonproliferation and security conditions in their agreements that we observe in 

ours, especially when those same suppliers are seeking nuclear 

business in the United States. 

I was pleased to cosponsor the chairman’s bill, H.R. 1280, because I wanted to demonstrate that updating nuclear cooperation 

provisions in the Atomic Energy Act, especially by including an oil 

enrichment and processing requirement, has strong bipartisan support. 

I also introduced my own bill, H.R. 1320, which took a different 

approach to congressional review of new agreements of cooperation. 

My bill kept a fast track route for agreements that meet existing 

nonproliferation conditions plus some new ones, including a no enrichment or reprocessing requirement. Such agreements would 

come into effect unless Congress enacted a joint resolution of disapproval within 90 days. 

32

I am pleased, as I mentioned earlier, that the chair and I were 

able to work out an agreement in an amendment whereby all new 

agreements would have to be approved by Congress unless they incorporate a no enrichment or reprocessing requirement. If they do 

include this provision, they could go into effect unless Congress enacts a joint resolution of disapproval. This elevates the gold standard as the crucial nonproliferation criteria for congressional review 

of new agreements, the gateway for the fast track disapproval only 

path. I have no doubt that congressional approval of any agreement 

that does not have this provision would hinge in part on why a 

country refuses to undertake a no enrichment or reprocessing commitment. I also believe it is desirable to incorporate some incentives for states to accept a no enrichment or reprocessing provision. 

As this bill progresses through the legislative process, we should 

consider what sort of incentives might be useful, such as loan guarantees for nuclear exports to those countries, which was in my bill, 

fuel leasing or other incentives. As we move this legislation to the 

floor, it would be useful to have the administration give us their 

views on the bill, the utility, the gold standard for our global nonproliferation efforts, and their efforts to persuade other countries 

bilaterally and through the Nuclear Suppliers Group to adopt comparable nonproliferation conditions in their civil nuclear commerce. 

I am also pleased the chairman accepted some of the other provisions from my bill, including provisions on assistance to any country that withdraws from the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear 

Weapons and the creation of New State Sponsor of Proliferation 

List. I believe this subject is more important than it is exciting and 

apologize for my opening remarks. 

Mr. ROYCE. Madam Chairman, I move to strike the last word. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Royce. You are recognized for 5 

minutes. 

Mr. ROYCE. I will be very brief, Madam Chairman. I think this 

is good bipartisan legislation. It builds off the work that has been 

done on both the Nonproliferation Subcommittee and the full committee. And I think the global expansion of nuclear power really 

has complicated the task of making sure that in the end we don’t 

increase the number of nuclear weapon states. 

The central problem is that it can be a sprint from a civilian to 

a military nuclear program. It is certainly not a marathon. And it 

is the enrichment and reprocessing aspects of the fuel cycle that 

puts nuclear weapons within reach. This is the key to the bomb 

making technology that a lot of states seek. So to handle concerns 

about enrichment and reprocessing, the U.S. Nuclear Cooperation 

Agreement with the UAE included a commitment that it forego 

those critical technologies. And this legislation pushes that model 

forward and really, when you think about it, it pushes it forward 

for future nuclear cooperation agreements. That is why it is important. 

At a time when the Obama administration is debating internally 

which way to take this policy, this is a very important congressional marker and it is why we should all support this. 

I urge passage and yield back, Madam Chairman. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. And before I recognize the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Terrorism, 

33

Nonproliferation, and Trade for his amendments, are there any 

other members who seek recognition? 

Mr. Rohrabacher is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. This is not the worst bill that I have ever 

seen, Howard. In fact, it is pretty good. 

Let me just note for the record, as we are discussing this, there 

have been great strides that have been made in the development 

of nuclear energy for the production of electricity. And let me just 

note that we should—when anyone is talking about this particular 

issue, any country that wants to build a nuclear power plant that 

will produce electricity but does not then have a byproduct of creating material for a nuclear bomb, that option now is technologically available to us in high temperature gas cooled reactors 

that have been developed by a number of American corporations. 

So I just wanted to put that into the record. And we should be 

pushing people toward this new technology rather than the old 

technology. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Rohrabacher. Hearing 

no further speakers, I would like to recognize the RM of TNT to 

offer his amendments. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Thank you, Madam Chairman. First, I strongly 

support the bill and the substitute that serves as base text today. 

It restores some balance——

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Sherman, would you like to call 

up the amendment first? 

Mr. SHERMAN. Yes. I would ask unanimous consent to offer two 

amendments en bloc. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection the clerk will report 

the amendments. 

Mr. SHERMAN. And these are No. 14 and Sherman No. 16. 

Ms. CARROLL. Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a 

substitute to H.R. 1280. 

[The amendments referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection, the en bloc amendments are considered as read. I recognize the author, Mr. Sherman, 

to explain his amendments. 

Mr. SHERMAN. First is the general comments of the bill. We 

ought to have a gold standard. I think the gold standard has been 

added to. It is always included that the country adopt the IAEA 

safeguards, including the additional protocol, and that it agree to 

forego enrichment and reprocessing. The other elements that I 

think have been added to the gold standard at my urging and the 

urging of others is that they agree to restrict third-party access 

without U.S. consent and that they have effective liability laws in 

place so that U.S. companies can bid on the opportunities to build 

these reactors. And I have a perfecting amendment that deals with 

that element. 

If an agreement has all four elements, if it meets the new gold 

standard, then and only then can it be signed by the President and 

simply submitted to Congress with a waiting period. Every other 

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As to these amendments, the first one deals with liability. We 

don’t know what the future of nuclear power will be after the 

events in Japan, but we do want to avoid the India scenario. With 

India, we negotiated a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. We played 

an important role in getting India through the Nuclear Suppliers 

Group. India said, ‘‘We are going to have the United States build 

7 to 10 reactors with a total of 10,000 megawatts.’’ And then it 

turned out that Indian law was such that our companies faced such 

liability that none of them would participate. In contrast, the 

French and Russian suppliers claim sovereign immunity, claim to 

be part of their respective governments, and say they don’t need 

the liability waivers and liability provisions. As a result of the 

India problem, it looks like our companies will not have the very 

role that India wanted to give them. Therefore, under this agreement, the party to the Nuclear Cooperation Agreement must agree, 

as part of the agreement itself, to enact—preferably before the 

agreement goes into force but in no case less than 1 year afterwards—liability protections efficient to allow U.S. companies to 

compete. And I should point out this will give American companies 

no more protection than the French and Russian suppliers already 

have since they claim sovereign immunity. 

The second amendment is No. 16. It is a placeholder designed to 

allow us to work further on the idea of encouraging restrictions on 

the transfers of new technology. It requires that U.S. cooperation 

with other nuclear suppliers for development of civilian technology, 

both domestically and abroad, be conditioned on those suppliers 

and their host nation’s willingness to join us in enacting restrictions comparable to our own nonproliferation provisions. 

So the current amendment is a sense of Congress but I look forward to working with the chairwoman to turn it into something 

even more binding. 

And with that, I yield back and urge support of the amendment 

en bloc. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Sherman. I 

would like to note to members and staff that we likely will be voting on this measure in just a few minutes. I recognize myself briefly to speak on the amendments. 

I support both amendments offered by Mr. Sherman. The first 

amendment, as he explained, requires a country with which the 

U.S. is considering a Nuclear Cooperation Agreement to commit to 

putting into effect laws and regulations on civil liability that are 

sufficient to allow American companies to fully utilize the commercial opportunities created by the agreement. Without laws and regulations that are consistent with international standards, the risks 

of open-ended liability would likely prevent U.S. companies from 

operating in that country, even as businesses from other countries 

would be handed an unbeatable advantage. 

The second amendment is aimed at persuading nuclear supplier 

countries, such as France and Russia, to require nations with 

which they sign nuclear cooperation agreements to meet nonproliferation standards comparable to those in the amended Atomic 

Energy Act. Currently these and other governments do not require 

similar standards, with the result that more and more countries 

37

have greater access to the ingredients for a nuclear weapons program. 

And with that, I would like to——

Mr. CHABOT. Madam Chairman? 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chabot is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. CHABOT. I move to strike the last word. 

Very briefly, I would like to commend the gentleman from California, Mr. Berman, for offering this amendment. I support it. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I hate to disparage the amendment, but it was offered by the gentleman from California, Mr. Sherman. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Chabot is recognized. 

Mr. CHABOT. Mr. Sherman, I apologize. 

I appreciate him offering this amendment. I think it is important 

that we allow American companies to compete on a level playing 

field when it comes to nuclear facilities around the world. I commend him. I apologize for messing up his name. I look forward to 

working together with him in the future, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. You and I both have names that are 

frequently stepped upon, so we don’t take any great insult. Mr. 

Berman is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

Both these amendments, I believe, should be supported and on 

the first amendment, we have a simple choice here. If we want to 

get some of the business, we either invest in massive government 

subsidies to encourage purchases from U.S. companies or we take 

the approach of essentially saying, you have got to provide the insurance that countries like France and Russia don’t need because 

they use the pockets of the central government to finance any liability consequences that come from it. 

So I urge support for both amendments and yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. 

Hearing no other members who wish to be recognized to speak 

on these en bloc amendments, the question occurs on the en bloc 

amendments. All those in favor say aye. All opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it, and the en bloc 

amendments are agreed to. Are there any other amendments to the 

base text? 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Chairman, I have an amendment at the 

desk, No. 41. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. The clerk will read the amendment. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Connolly, is that to H.R. 1326? 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Wrong bill. Sorry about that. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Connolly withdraws. Hearing no 

other amendments to the base text, I move that the bill be reported 

favorably to the House, as amended. On this question, the Chair 

requests a recorded vote. The clerk will call the roll. 

Ms. CARROLL. Chairman Ros-Lehtinen. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Yes. 

Ms. CARROLL. The chairman votes aye. 

Mr. Smith. 

Mr. SMITH. Yes. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Smith votes aye. 

Mr. Burton. 

38

Mr. BURTON. Yes. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Burton votes aye. 

Mr. Gallegly. 

Mr. GALLEGLY. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Gallegly votes aye. 

Mr. Rohrabacher. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Yes. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Rohrabacher votes aye. 

Mr. Manzullo. 

Mr. MANZULLO. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Manzullo votes aye. 

Mr. Royce. 

Mr. ROYCE. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Royce votes aye. 

Mr. Chabot. 

Mr. CHABOT. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Chabot votes aye. 

Mr. Paul. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Pence. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Wilson of South Carolina. 

Mr. WILSON OF SOUTH CAROLINA. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Wilson of South Carolina votes aye. 

Mr. Mack. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Fortenberry. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. McCaul. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Poe. 

Mr. POE. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Poe votes aye. 

Mr. Bilirakis. 

Mr. BILIRAKIS. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Bilirakis votes aye. 

Mrs. Schmidt. 

Mrs. SCHMIDT. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mrs. Schmidt votes aye. 

Mr. Johnson. 

Mr. JOHNSON. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Johnson votes aye. 

Mr. Rivera. 

Mr. RIVERA. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Rivera votes aye. 

Mr. Kelly. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Griffin. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Marino. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Duncan. 

Mr. DUNCAN. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Duncan votes aye. 

39

Ms. Buerkle. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mrs. Ellmers. 

Mrs. ELLMERS. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mrs. Ellmers votes aye. 

Mr. Berman. 

Mr. BERMAN. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Berman votes aye. 

Mr. Ackerman. 

Mr. ACKERMAN. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Ackerman votes aye. 

Mr. Faleomavaega. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Payne. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Sherman. 

Mr. SHERMAN. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Sherman votes aye. 

Mr. Engel. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Meeks. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Carnahan. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Sires. 

Mr. SIRES. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Sires votes aye. 

Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Connolly votes aye. 

Mr. Deutch. 

[No response.] 

Mr. Cardoza. 

Mr. CARDOZA. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Cardoza votes aye. 

Mr. Chandler. 

Mr. CHANDLER. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Chandler votes aye. 

Mr. Higgins. 

Mr. HIGGINS. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Higgins votes aye. 

Ms. Schwartz. 

Ms. SCHWARTZ. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Ms. Schwartz votes aye. 

Mr. Murphy. 

[No response.] 

Ms. CARROLL. Ms. Wilson of Florida. 

Ms. WILSON OF FLORIDA. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Ms. Wilson of Florida votes aye. 

Ms. Bass. 

Ms. BASS. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Ms. Bass votes aye. 

Mr. Keating. 

Mr. KEATING. Aye. 

40

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Keating votes aye. 

Mr. Cicilline. 

Mr. CICILLINE. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Cicilline votes aye. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Have all the members votes? 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Fortenberry. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Fortenberry votes aye. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Any other members? If you tell the 

clerk, Mr. Kelly. 

Mr. KELLY. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Kelly votes aye. 

Mr. Griffin. 

Mr. GRIFFIN. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Griffin votes aye. 

Mr. Deutch. 

Mr. DEUTCH. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Mr. Deutch votes aye. 

Ms. Buerkle. 

Ms. BUERKLE. Aye. 

Ms. CARROLL. Ms. Buerkle votes aye. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Have all members voted? If the clerk 

will count and report the vote. 

Ms. CARROLL. Madam Chairman, on that vote, there are 34 ayes 

and no noes. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. The ayes have it. And the 

motion to report favorably is agreed to. Without objection, the bill, 

as amended, will be reported as a single amendment in the nature 

of a substitute, incorporating the amendments adopted by the committee. And the staff is directed to make technical and conforming 

changes. 

I now call up H.R. 1326, the Furthering International Nuclear 

Safety Act of 2011. Without objection, the bill will be considered as 

read and open for amendment at any point. 

[H.R. 1326 follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. I recognize myself to speak briefly on 

this bill. 

The amendment that will be offered modifies Mr. Fortenberry’s 

original bill by combining two required reports into one. It is aimed 

at improving the safety of the nuclear power plants around the 

world by enhancing the sharing of information, including strengthening the mechanisms created by the Convention of Nuclear Safety. 

The bill calls for the U.S. Representative to the Convention to encourage, among other actions, the expanded use of performance 

metrics to enable countries to better assess their progress in increasing nuclear safety, increase public availability of information 

regarding nuclear safety efforts, greater support by the IAEA for 

nuclear safety efforts, and greater cooperation on providing accurate and timely information regarding nuclear accidents and on developing emergency response plans. 

The bill would require the Secretary of State, along with other 

U.S. Government agencies, to develop a strategic plan to promote 

greater international cooperation and nuclear safety and to submit 

a report to Congress within 6 months on the implementation of the 

plan. 

I am pleased to yield to the ranking member to speak on the 

measure. Mr. Berman, do you have any remarks? 

Mr. BERMAN. I do. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. You are recognized. 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I move to strike the 

last word. 

There is no greater demonstration of the need for greater international cooperation on improved nuclear reactor safety than the 

tragedy that is still unfolding at the Fukushima nuclear power 

plant in Japan. Four reactors are still in danger of melting down 


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and their highly radioactive spent fuel and adjacent pools is in danger of catching fire and spreading dangerous radioactive materials 

potentially worldwide. This bill could not be more timely and I am 

pleased to be an original cosponsor. 

H.R. 1326 will increase U.S. outreach and support through the 

auspices of the Nuclear Safety Convention to all States that operate nuclear power reactors to assist them in improving the safety 

of their nuclear power programs. It also requires the Secretary of 

State to submit a strategic plan to improve international nuclear 

safety for power reactors and report to us on how that plan is being 

implemented. 

I urge my colleagues to support this bill. I yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. I know some 

members seek recognition on this bill. I would like to recognize, 

first, Mr. Fortenberry to offer his amendment. And if he could 

make remarks about the amendment in specific and on the bill in 

general, Mr. Fortenberry is recognized. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Madam Chair, I thank you for your leadership in holding this markup today and providing our committee the 

opportunity to consider the Furthering International Nuclear Safety Act of 2011, a bipartisan bill——

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Fortenberry, if I could interrupt. 

You let me have the clerk present the amendment first. I am so 

sorry. 

Ms. CARROLL. Madam Chairman, we are waiting on copies. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Okay. Then Mr. Fortenberry can continue while we make the required copies. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Thank you, Madam Chair. This is a bipartisan bill that seeks to enhance world-wide cooperation on nuclear 

safety in light of the continuing nuclear reactor crisis in Japan that 

followed last month’s tragic earthquake and tsunami. The issue of 

nuclear safety has elevated to paramount importance due to the 

crisis in the nuclear power reactors at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi 

plant. And in the long term the United States as well as Japan and 

other countries with commercial nuclear power reactors will all 

need to learn from this nuclear crisis so that we can do everything 

in our power to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again. 

The bipartisan nuclear safety bill that is before you today aims 

to help achieve that essential goal. In brief, the Furthering International Nuclear Safety Act seeks to improve the safety of nuclear 

power plants around the world. It would do this by requiring the 

State Department to use and strengthen existing mechanisms for 

worldwide sharing of nuclear safety information and best practices, 

mechanisms that were actually created by the Convention of Nuclear Safety of 1994. In particular, the bill would require the 

United States Representative to the Convention on Nuclear Safety 

to strongly encourage among other things expanded cooperation on 

prediction and analysis capability for earthquakes, tsunamis, and 

on radiation as it is transported away from nuclear sites, standard 

practices for providing accurate and timely information regarding 

nuclear accidents, and for the cooperative development of emergency response plans. It would also increase greater public availability of information regarding nuclear safety efforts. 

49

The legislation also requires the Secretary of State to provide 

Congress with a strategic plan to promote international cooperation 

on nuclear power safety and, through this amendment that I am 

offering today, to submit at a later time a consolidated report on 

the implementation of the plan and on the status of achieving the 

actions set forth in the legislation. 

Analysts at the CBO informed us that this legislation, by the 

way, will present no significant cost. The United States joined the 

Convention on Nuclear Safety in 1999 and today almost all countries with operating nuclear power plants are parties to that international agreement. The U.S. Government Accountability Office 

issued an April 2010 report that highlighted the importance of that 

convention and ongoing efforts to improve nuclear safety globally. 

While members of this committee may disagree about the future 

of nuclear power, it is my hope that we could all agree about the 

imperative of ensuring that the world’s current fleet of 440 commercial nuclear power reactors are operated as safely as possible. 

This legislation of course will not end once and for all the need 

for continuing vigilance by all countries to do a better job at nuclear safety, but enactment of this bill can play a necessary and 

vital role in helping to achieve that critical goal. Humanity cannot 

afford the cost of failure, and I urge all members of the committee 

to support the bill. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Fortenberry. The clerk 

will report the amendment. 

Ms. CARROLL. Amendment to H.R. 1326 offered by Mr. 

Fortenberry amends section 2 to read——

[The amendment referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection, the amendment is 

considered as read. Mr. Sherman, you have indicated that you 

would like to speak on the amendment and the bill. He is recognized without objection. 

Mr. SHERMAN. I do. It is an excellent bill. It is an excellent 

amendment. I need the rest of my time to address one other issue. 

And that is the bill we are not considering today, the North Korea 

Sanctions and Diplomatic Nonrecognition Act. The rumor is that 

we were ready to go with this bill, and the Ways and Means supporters of the Korea Free Trade Agreement said we shouldn’t consider it. I hope it was some other reason. 

I know that we have a limited amount of time here, which is why 

I will try to speak quickly. But the fact is that the concerns of the 

Ways and Means Committee deserve to be addressed. It is true the 

current draft of the Free Trade Agreement with South Korea rips 

a 65-percent hole in every effort to sanction North Korea, and that 

is why the supporters of the Free Trade Agreement must use everything that they have to prevent us from focusing at this time 

on our North Korea policy and sanctions on North Korea. 

The text of the Free Trade Agreement states that if goods are, 

say, partially made in North Korea and partially made in South 

Korea, say auto parts or electronics, 65 percent are made in North 

Korea, 35 percent are made in South Korea, they have a right to 

enter our country. Now our sanctions, which are not codified but 

are a matter of executive action, prevent those goods from coming 

into our country. And as a result, we will be in violation of the Free 

Trade Agreement. 

The next part of this dance is that the Executive branch will 

water it down or waive the sanctions against North Korean goods 

to the extent that they are only 65 percent North Korean and 35 

percent South Korean. Now it is true that there is a national security provision in the Free Trade Agreement, just as there is in all 

our other trade agreements, and we have never used the national 

security provisions. We gave up on the Iran Sanctions Act rather 

than exercise the national security provision. We gave up on 

Helms-Burton. And so the national security provision of the Korea 

Free Trade Agreement is certainly not the answer. 

The answer is to make sure that any free trade agreement that 

we sign explicitly provides that we are not in violation of the agreement if we choose to exclude all North Korean goods. That is something that will not be done. Instead, there will be every effort made 

to conceal from Congress the fact that the Free Trade Agreement 

with South Korea by its terms allows those partially North Koreanmade goods into our country, sets us up for being in a position 

where our companies would be sanctioned by South Korea because 

we will have violated the agreement and creates enormous economic pressure for us to water down or waive our sanctions on 

goods that are partially made in North Korea. 

I look forward to the codification of our sanctions against North 

Korea, and I look forward to hopefully the Free Trade Agreement 

either being shelved or amended to making sure that it meets the 

national security concerns that are so much the focus of this committee. 

I yield back, and I thank the chairwoman for her time. 

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Sherman. Do any 

other members seek time? Mr. Rohrabacher is recognized. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER. Thank you very much. I would like to identify myself with the remarks of Mr. Sherman. And these are very 

serious issues that he is bringing up. And I share those concerns 

and have been worried about that as well. I would like to ask—and 

this is all I have to say, Madam Chairman, as I ask unanimous 

consent to insert in the record a document detailing the new nuclear technology that I referred to earlier that cannot melt 

down.——

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection. 

Mr. ROHRABACHER [continuing]. Cannot leak radiation and has 

no byproducts that can be used to build nuclear weapons. Thank 

you. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Berman is recognized. 

Mr. BERMAN. Where do I buy one? 

Thank you, Madam Chairman. If I may take my time to just ask 

Mr. Fortenberry a question. We had suggested adding two phrases 

to your amendment regarding the tragic undertaking in Japan. 

And one is a phrase in the findings—a longstanding friend and ally 

of the United States. And in the second finding, a reference that 

the earthquake and resulting tsunami caused a massive loss of life, 

devastated towns and farmland, and inserting that in the appropriate place in the second finding. 

This raises a larger issue, which isn’t the committee’s issue. But 

I will take this opportunity to bring it up. The leadership of the 

House in their rules has passed provisions restricting resolutions 

in many areas. And by and large, I support that decision. One is, 

a lot of issues that take our time will not be considered because of 

that. But there needs to be some flexibility. What happened in 

Japan and our relationship with that country are so important and 

the expression of the congressional understanding of the gravity of 

the tragedy there I think is so important to our friend and ally 

Japan and the Japanese people that to take a little bit, just a key 

element of a resolution which can’t move because of those rules and 

incorporate it into a bill that is directly related to the tsunami and 

flood and the consequences of the earthquake and the tsunami on 

the nuclear reactor seems appropriate, seems called for in this kind 

of situation, and I do think this is a case where the leadership 

tends to be interpreting the rules so restrictively that it forces us 

not to do something that I think just common decency requires us 

to be doing. 

I would just like to ask the author of the amendment if it would 

be possible to add those phrases. It is not the entire resolution that 

has been introduced. You have taken some parts of the resolution; 

as I understand it, the leadership has signed off on. But the omission of our relationship with our friend and ally and the consequences of the earthquake and tsunami to that country I think 

would be appropriate, and it is a very small part of the underlying 

resolution. 

So on my time, if the gentleman or the chairman wish to react. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Fortenberry, I was wondering if I 

could—not taking away from your time—if I could react to Mr. Berman’s time and not take your time as well. And while I agree and 

I think all the members would agree that what occurred in Japan 

is indeed a catastrophe in epic proportions, many key U.S. allies, 

Colombia and New Zealand, also have seen devastating natural 

disasters, and we have time on the floor for us to express our condolences and build on those strong relationships with our allies 

through 1-minute, 5-minute Special Orders, and 1 hour Special Orders. But if such language would be incorporated in Mr. 

Fortenberry’s bill, even couched in legislative language but put in 

words that have really camouflaged our resolution language, it will 

not be considered by the rules of our leadership on the floor. So 

they would be stripped in the Rules Committee. But Mr. 

Fortenberry can do as he wishes on this language, if that is an 

amendment that you are offering. 

64

Mr. BERMAN. Well, I guess I am asking the gentleman if he 

would accept that language. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Fortenberry is recognized. 

Mr. FORTENBERRY. Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want 

to thank the gentleman from California, the ranking member, for 

sponsoring this legislation, for cosponsoring it. I appreciate your interest in our longstanding relationship on working on issues of nuclear safety as well as nonproliferation. I simply have to echo the 

chairwoman’s sentiments that there was—it is my understanding—

some complexities in doing this. But I understand your sensibilities, and I share them. If there is an opportunity to work later, perhaps on the floor, to express those sentiments, I would be happy 

to work with you. 

Mr. BERMAN. I will not offer an amendment now, but I would 

like perhaps for us to consider the possibility if this will be the only 

opportunity for us formally to express these concerns between now 

and taking this bill up on the House floor to review the situation 

and consider the possibility of adding this language, perhaps in 

consultation with the bipartisan leadership. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Berman. Thank you, 

Mr. Fortenberry. 

Do any other members seek recognition? Mr. Connolly is recognized. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Let me thank Mr. 

Fortenberry for his leadership on this thoughtful piece of legislation which I enthusiastically support. I have a simple amendment 

at the desk. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Sir, if I could ask if we could hold that 

a second and let’s take action on the Fortenberry amendment first. 

Thank you. 

If there are no other requests for time on the Fortenberry 

amendment, then the question occurs on adoption of the amendment that Mr. Fortenberry discussed. All those in favor say aye. 

Those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it, and the amendment 

is agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments to the bill? Mr. Connolly is recognized. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. I just assumed 

the Fortenberry language had been adopted by acclimation. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. The clerk will report the amendment. 

Ms. CARROLL. Amendment to H.R. 1326 offered by Mr. Connolly 

of Virginia page 5 line 19 insert after: ‘‘sites’’ the following: Via 

natural ecological transport systems. 

[The amendment referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. The gentleman is recognized. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Chairman, I thank you. I am not going 

to take much time. This is simply some language to expand on 

transported away from nuclear sites in the event of a natural disaster. I think we need the international cooperation of the scientific 

community, technical community, engineering community to look 

at the ecological ramifications. How do we treat seawater when it 

is polluted? What do we do about farmland when it is polluted with 

radioactivity? And that is the sole purpose of my language, to simply expand on transported away. And I hope it will be considered 

a principal amendment. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. The chair supports the 

amendment. If the ranking member would like to be recognized? 

Mr. BERMAN. I have no objection to the amendment. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. Do any members wish to 

speak on the amendment? Hearing no members seeking recognition, the question occurs on the amendment. All those in favor say 

aye. All those opposed no. 

In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the amendment 

is agreed to. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank the chair. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Connolly. Are there 

any other amendments to the bill? 

Hearing no further amendments, I move that the bill be reported 

favorably to the House, as amended. All those in favor say aye. All 

those opposed no. 

The ayes have it, and the motion to report favorably is agreed 

to. Without objection, the bill, as amended, will be reported as a 

single amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the 

amendments adopted by this committee, and the staff is directed 

to make technical and conforming changes. 

I now call up H.R. 1016, the Assessing Progress in Haiti Act. 

Without objection, the bill will be considered as read and open for 

amendment at any point, and the bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute that members have before them will be considered as read and base text for purposes of the amendment. 

[The information referred to follows:]


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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. I recognize myself to speak on the bill. 

I support H.R. 1016, a bill introduced by Congresswoman Barbara Lee, directing the President to report to Congress regarding 

the status of post-earthquake humanitarian reconstruction and development efforts in Haiti. It supplements our efforts under the 

Haiti Act, which I introduced last Congress, to exercise greater 

oversight over the disbursement of assistance and to ensure that 

it is reaching the intended recipients and that it is advancing U.S. 

priorities and Haiti’s recovery. 

It has been about 15 months since last year’s devastating earthquake in Haiti. In that time the United States has undertaken a 

robust and multi-faceted effort supporting the Haitian people as 

they work to rebuild and advance their island nation. It has not 

been an easy road. 

As the bill states, however, throughout this series of crises, the 

people of Haiti have continued to demonstrate unwavering resilience, dignity, and courage. Last month the final round of the Haitian elections was held, marking an important step toward the 

completion of the election process and ultimate transition of power 

from President Preval to the President-Elect. It would be critical 

that this transition process be carried out peacefully, responsibly, 

and with great transparency. 

Sustainable recovery in Haiti will depend on strong leadership by 

the new government of Haiti and a vigorous commitment to 

strengthen Haiti’s democratic institutions and a concrete verifiable 

effort to stop corruption. And the people of Haiti must be included 

in the design and ownership of their political and economic future. 

I had the opportunity to visit Haiti this past January with Secretary Clinton’s Chief of Staff and a point person on Haiti, and I 

can tell you that while important advancements have been made, 

it is clear that much work still remains to be done. It is critical 

that we take all steps possible to ensure the support that we provide is carried out in an effective and sustainable manner. The report mandated by H.R. 1016 will help us in this effort. 

I would like to thank Ranking Member Berman and his staff for 

working with us to iron out the details of this amendment. I look 

forward to continuing to work with my colleagues in support of 

these oversight efforts, and I am now pleased to recognize my 

friend, the ranking member, for remarks he may have on this 

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Mr. BERMAN. Thank you very much, Madam Chairman, and I 

want to first commend our former committee member, Ms. Barbara 

Lee, for introducing this bill. It provides a detailed snapshot of 

where Haiti is roughly a year after the horrific January 10, 2010, 

earthquake which left more than 316,000 dead. Many international 

actors and donors have joined the U.S. in a complex program to assist the people of Haiti to help us understand all of the moving 

parts of this process. 

The bill requires a report from the President on the state of U.S. 

programs and projects in place, to protect vulnerable populations, 

to improve water and sanitation, of coordination with other donors, 

NGOs, the Haitian diaspora, and the Haitian Government. We 

need to remain engaged in helping Haiti rebuild its future. This 

bill will help us help Haiti and I strongly support it. And I am 

pleased we have reached an agreement on the bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute. I look forward to helping get 

this bill to the floor. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Berman. I 

know that Ms. Wilson of our committee represents a growing and 

vibrant Haitian American community, and I would like to know if 

she would like to be recognized for 5 minutes to speak on this bill. 

Without objection. 

Ms. WILSON OF FLORIDA. Thank you, Madam Chair. I would like 

to thank the chair for the inclusion of one of my amendments in 

the bill today and the opportunity to describe another amendment 

which I wanted to offer but was not germane. I want to work with 

the chair and Ranking Member Berman to quickly address this 

issue. 

I would like to first commend the chairman and ranking minority 

member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Congressmen Connie Mack and Eliot Engel, for supporting an amendment which included language that I wanted to offer and was offered by Congressman Engel. That amendment added a requirement to the report asking of the suitability of Haiti to receive deported individuals and the steps that Haiti has taken to strengthen 

its capacity in that regard. I would also like to thank the chairwoman for accepting this language in her amendment in the nature of a substitute. 

The amendment that I wanted to offer goes a bit further and 

complements the earlier language. It is very simple and adds an 

enforcement provision to the bill. It says that if the required report 

is not delivered to Congress within the 6-month deadline required 

by the bill upon enactment, all deportation should be halted until 

the report is transmitted to Congress and the President determines 

and certifies that it is appropriate for these deportations to continue. 

Some of you may not be aware that temporary protective status 

for Haitian nationals currently in the United States is set to expire 

on July 22, 2011. Along with several other Members of Congress, 

I have asked that this temporary protective status designation be 

extended for 1 year. We have just witnessed the 1-year anniversary 

of the earthquake and both the Nation and people of Haiti face 

enormous economic and infrastructure challenges. One year later, 

it is estimated by many organizations that 1 million people still 

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live in tent camps, and it is reported that one person who was sent 

back to Haiti died from cholera. 

According to the January 22 study by U.S. and Haitian researchers, 38 percent of these camps still don’t have regular access to 

water, down only 2.5 percentage points since August. Nearly a 

third of camps aren’t equipped with toilets, and where toilets can 

be found they are shared by an average of 273 people each. The 

United Nations standards call for one toilet per 20 people. As a result, many camp residents remain highly vulnerable to fecal-born 

diseases like cholera, which has killed over 4,600 people and infected nearly a quarter of a million since October of last year. 

This issue is important to me and it is important to the international stature of the United States. The 17th Congressional District of Florida has the largest number of Haitian nationals in 

America. This is the just and humane thing to do. 

I understand that my amendment is not germane and could 

cause a point of order against the bill as it moves forward. I look 

forward to working with Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking 

Minority Member Berman to quickly address this issue. I thank 

the chairman, the ranking minority member, and my colleagues on 

the committee for listening to me. I yield back the remainder of my 

time. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Ms. Wilson. 

And on behalf of our south Florida congressional delegation, Mr. 

Deutch, Mr. Rivera, and I also look forwarded to working with you 

and Mr. Berman on this issue as it moves forward. 

Seeing no baseball signals about members wishing to be recognized, I would like to ask if there are any amendments to the base 

text. Mr. Connolly is recognized. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Madam Chairman, thank you. I have a straightforward amendment, and I would call it up at the desk. 

Ms. CARROLL. Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a 

substitute to H.R. 1016 offered by Mr. Connolly of Virginia. Page 

3, after line 18, insert the following new paragraph. 

[The amendment referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection, the amendment is 

considered read. And the chair reserves a point of order on the 

amendment. But Mr. Connolly is recognized for up to 5 minutes to 

explain his amendment. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. Amendment No. 

42 simply applauds the work of the urban search and rescue teams 

from Los Angeles, Miami/Dade, City of Miami, Virginia Beach that 

have worked with USAID and FEMA in response to numerous 

tragedies and in particular, of course, most recently Japan but 

Haiti as well. And this language simply calls them out for special 

treatment. I was under the impression, Madam Chairman, that 

this had been cleared. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Correct. Correct. Thank you. I apologize, Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. And Madam Chairman, I just think they do outstanding work. This is a great partnership between USAID and our 

local fire and rescue departments. Each of our respective jurisdictions can and should be proud of work they do and the ambassador 

role they play on behalf of the people of the United States when 

others around the world suffer tragedies, as they did in Haiti and 

most recently in Japan. 

And with that, I yield back my time. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Connolly. The chair 

would like to recognize herself to acknowledge my support for this 

amendment because it highlights the admirable contributions that 

many American corporations, organizations, people have made to 

support the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti. Americans have donated $1.4 billion to charities in support of this cause. My own district and Ms. Wilson’s district of Miami has sent two urban search 

and rescue teams to Haiti immediately following the quake, 

pledged $60,000 to relief efforts. The Port of Miami and Miami 

International Airport have waived certain fees for relief-related efforts. And several other assets from south Florida were utilized, 

U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), which served as the operation center for the U.S. response, Coast Guard Key West, Homestead Air Reserve Base, which was the initial departure point for 

C–130s that carried relief, supplies, and personnel to Haiti. And as 

we have noted, the underlying bill states that individual businesses 

and philanthropic organizations across the U.S. and throughout the 

international community responded in support of Haiti and its popVerDate 0ct 09 2002 10:50 Jul 19, 2011 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 F:\WORK\FULL\041411M\65797 HFA PsN: SHIRL

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ulace during the crisis, sometimes in innovative ways, such as 

fundraising through text messages. 

Does anyone wish to be heard on the amendment? Mr. Berman. 

Mr. BERMAN. Thank you, Madam Chairman. 

I strongly support this paragraph of praise for the U.S. urban 

search and rescue teams in reference to an earlier passed House 

Resolution. And once again I urge my colleagues to consider with 

respect to the other bill similar references of concern for the disaster in Japan and urge adoption of this amendment. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Payne is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. PAYNE. I would just like to say very briefly, let me commend 

the author of the resolution and the strong support that has been 

received from the chairperson, the ranking member, these perfecting amendments. I think it is certainly important that we do 

recognize those people who put themselves in harm’s way, as is indicated in this amendment. So I would just like to commend the 

committee and for us to continue to have a concern about our 

neighbors so close to our shores. 

With that, I yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. I see no other baseball signals for recognition of time. So hearing no further requests for recognition, the question occurs on the amendment. All those in favor 

say aye. All those opposed no. 

In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it and the amendment 

is agreed to. 

Are there any members who wish to speak on the base text of 

the bill before us? If there are no further amendments, I move that 

the bill be reported favorably to the House, as amended. All those 

in favor say aye. All those opposed no. 

The ayes have it, and the motion to report favorably is agreed 

to. Without objection the bill, as amended, will be reported as a 

single amendment in the nature of a substitute, incorporating the 

amendments adopted by this committee and the staff is directed to 

make technical and conforming changes. 

We now move to the last bill. I now call up the bill H.R. 515, the 

Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011. Without objection, 

the bill will be considered as read and open for amendment at any 

point. And the bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute 

that members have before them which represents the subcommittee mark by Mr. Smith and Mr. Payne will be considered 

as read and as base text for purposes of amendment. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. I recognize myself to speak on the bill. 

I strongly support the bill before us. I would like to express my 

condolences to the people of Belarus who earlier this week suffered 

a horrific bombing in the subway in Minsk that killed 12 and 

wounded 200 others. I thank my colleague Chris Smith for introducing this bill, which would amend the Belarus Democracy Act of 

2004. This measure is both timely and important. 

Belarus has been correctly deemed the last dictatorship of Europe. The basic freedoms and human rights of the people of Belarus 

are systematically violated, pro-democracy political activists are 

subject to beatings and imprisonment, and the authorities in 

Belarus have imposed severe restrictions on free speech and on 

independent media. 

On December 19, 2010, a fraudulent presidential election was 

held in Belarus. According to the recently released Department of 

State 2010 Human Rights Report, ‘‘Authorities denied citizens the 

right to change their government, manipulating the December 19th 

Presidential election to ensure that the President would not be seriously challenged.’’ Further, it continues:

‘‘Security forces beat detainees and protesters, used excessive 

force to disperse peaceful demonstrators, and reportedly used 

torture during investigations. A crackdown on a post-election 

demonstration led to the arrest of over 700 activists, including 

criminal charges against five Presidential candidates and numerous activists and journalists.’’

The U.S. and other responsible nations must support pro-democracy forces in Belarus and hold the authoritarian regime in Minsk 

accountable for its growing abuses. I will not read my entire statement, but I am pleased to yield to the ranking member for any remarks that he may have on the measure. 

Mr. BERMAN. I thank the chairman, and I want to join her in expressing my condolences to the families and loved ones of those 

who perished or were injured in Monday’s bombing in the Minsk 

subway. 

The fact is that Belarus is Europe’s last dictatorship and that 

that shouldn’t be allowed to go unchallenged. On December 19 of 

last year Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko staged a fraudulent election. Immediately afterwards, he arrested candidates who 

dared to run against him and hundreds of citizens who took to the 

streets in Minsk to protect the election results. The regime has continued to harass members of opposition and the local parties, 


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human rights activists, and civil society and to suppress 

Belarusans’ access to free press and information. 

Two weeks ago the OSCE was forced to close its office in Minsk. 

While international media attention has moved on to events elsewhere, we have not forgotten the people of Belarus. Many heroic 

individuals still languish in prison without access to their families 

or legal counsel. With this reauthorization, the U.S. is doing what 

we can to encourage their free exchange of ideas and alternative 

leaders in Belarus. Belarusans have the same right to self-government and free expression as their neighbors. And we need to continue to call for the reopening of the OSCE Minsk mission and call 

for the Lukashenko government to cooperate with a OSCE factfinding mission requested by the 14 participating States under the 

Moscow Mechanism. 

I urge support for the bill and yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you very much, Mr. Berman. 

I am pleased to recognize the author of this bill, the chairman 

of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights, 

Mr. Smith, for 5 minutes. 

Mr. SMITH. Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you for scheduling this legislation for a markup. As my colleagues know, the 

fraudulent December 19th election in Belarus and the ongoing 

crackdown on democracy activists and the independent journalists 

by the Lukashenko dictatorship underscore the need for this legislation. 

Immediately after the election, the government responded to 

peaceful protests against electoral fraud with savage mass beatings 

and large scale detentions. Some 700 people were detained. Some 

of those jailed have been abused and many have been tortured. A 

number have already received harsh sentences of up to 4 years. 

Nearly 30 remain in detention and many more await trial and 

could be incarcerated for up to 15 years or more. Many of those 

people over the years, Madam Chair, I would note parenthetically, 

are people that I have come to know, including Anatoly Lebedko, 

who is the leader of the United Civic Party who was arrested and 

awaits a trial for mass disturbances and organizing and participating in that disturbance. They had a rally. And for that, he faces, 

like the others, up to 15 years in prison. 

The crackdown follows the pattern of repression that has characterized Lukashenko’s nearly 17-year rule. Through a series of 

rigged elections, large-scale intimidation, and the suppression of 

independent media and civil society, the dictator has long consolidated his control over virtually all national institutions. 

Lukashenko’s dictatorship has the worst democracy and human 

rights record of any government in Europe. Legislation that I authored earlier, the Belarus Democracy Act of 2004 and the Belarus 

Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2006, passed the House and Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed into law. 

H.R. 515 takes the earlier legislation as its starting point. It requires the State Department to report to Congress on transactions 

or cooperation by the Belarusan Government with any other government to censor or surveil the Internet, as well as arms sales 

and the personal assets of the dictator and his senior leaders. 

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Just as significant, the bill supports targeted sanctions. It expresses the sense of Congress to deny the privilege of visiting our 

country of senior Belarus officials, their immediate families, and 

others involved in human rights violations and anti-democracy actions, including those involved in the December 19 post-election 

crackdown. Likewise, it also has provisions prohibiting U.S. Government financing, except for humanitarian goods and agricultural 

or medical products and nonhumanitarian loans from international 

financial institutions to the Belarusan Government and blocking 

assets owned by the Belarusan Government’s senior leadership or 

their families and others involved in anti-democratic actions. These 

sanctions are aimed at the senior leadership of a dictatorship that 

displays utter contempt for the dignity and the rights of the 

Belarusan people. And with these sanctions, we stand with the 

Belarusan people against their oppressors. 

I want to stress that both the Bush and the Obama administrations have made good use of the previous Belarus Democracy Act 

of 2004 and 2006 to emphasize to the people and to the government 

especially that the elected representatives of the American people 

by overwhelming bipartisan majorities support the policy of condemning and sanctioning the Belarusan Government’s brutal 

human rights violations. I want to thank Mr. Payne, our ranking 

member on the subcommittee, for his support and for joining us in 

the April 1st hearing where we heard from a number of witnesses 

including the DAS Dan Russell, who did an extraordinarily good 

job and is at his post, and I also want to thank my good friend and 

colleague Chairman Burton and Mr. Meeks, the ranking member. 

Both of our subcommittees met in hearings, a hearing and a briefing, in a closed briefing about the arms sales and other related security issues. So I want to thank those two gentlemen as well. 

And I urge strong support for the legislation. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Smith. Before 

we move to the amendment process, are there any other members 

who wish to be recognized? 

Mr. Payne is recognized for 5 minutes. 

Mr. PAYNE. Let me commend the chairman of the Subcommittee 

on Africa, Global Health, and Human Rights for the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act of 2011, H.R. 515. We have worked 

together on this legislation, as you mentioned. We had the last 

remnants of the old Warsaw Pact where democracy went throughout Eastern Europe and other parts of the world. But Belarus is 

sticking to its being caught in time and refuses to move forward. 

As we see progress and people speaking out throughout the world, 

whether it is North Africa, whether it is the Middle East, whether 

it is throughout our world, people are saying that we want to have 

freedom, we want to be democratically run; we are against tyranny, 

and we want to have a better quality of life for our children. 

So I strongly support this. And as we all know, there is a similar 

struggle going on in Cote d’Ivoire and we would hope that we could 

get the legislation which my chairman certainly supports. We had 

a markup and a hearing on Cote d’Ivoire, and I hope that the U.S. 

Congress could join with the entire world community to say that 

Mr. Gbagbo is out of step with the world. And so maybe the House 

could get in step with the world. 

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Thank you very much. I yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Payne, 

and I know that Mr. Connolly has an amendment. If the clerk will 

report the amendment. 

Ms. CARROLL. Amendment to the amendment in the nature of a 

substitute to H.R. 515 offered by Mr. Connolly of Virginia. Page 

eight, beginning on line two. 

[The amendment referred to follows:]

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection, the amendment is 

considered as read, and the gentleman is recognized to explain his 

amendment. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank the chairman. Again, this is a clarifying 

amendment to simply amplify the language that we have got there 

that we are talking about ending tyranny by empowering the people of Belarus to end that tyranny in their country. I think that 

is a core principle of American democracy. That has been a value 

espoused by our country for over 200 years. 

I simply want to amplify that language. I have checked with the 

author of the bill and he, I believe, has accepted the language. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. The chair also supports the amendment. Mr. Berman? 

Mr. BERMAN. Me, too. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. I thank my colleagues, and I yield back. 

Chairman ROS-LEHTINEN. We will dispense with this amendment 

first. Any other member seek recognition on this amendment? 

Hearing no further requests for recognition, the question occurs on 

the amendment. All in favor say aye. All those opposed, no. 

In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it, and the amendment 

is agreed to. 

Are there any other amendments to the bill? If not, and because 

we have a reporting quorum being present, I move that the bill be 

reported favorably to the House, as amended. All those in favor say 

aye. All opposed no. 


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The ayes have it and the motion to report favorably is agreed to. 

Without objection, the bill, as amended, will be reported as a single 

amendment in the nature of a substitute incorporating the amendments adopted by the committee, and the staff is directed to make 

technical and conforming changes. 

This concludes the business of today. The committee is adjourned. Thank you, Mr. Berman. Thank you, Members. 

[Whereupon, at 11:20 a.m., the committee was adjourned.] 

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