Tom Lantos: “I share my opponent's concern about the danger of nuclear proliferation. This legislation is the exact opposite of…”

“I share my opponent's concern about the danger of nuclear proliferation. This legislation is the exact opposite of nuclear proliferation. It opens up for the first time in history all of India's current civilian nuclear plants and all future nuclear plants to international control. This is a control measure. It is a measure which will dramatically enhance the historic strategic cooperation between the democratic state of India and the United States of America. When historians will look at this historic vote we are about to take, they will view this as the most significant vote for democracy, peace, and control of nuclear weapons in the 21st century. The Senate voted 85 to 15 for this legislation. It passed the House on a bipartisan basis, overwhelmingly. Tonight we have an opportunity to reaffirm that vote, and I urge all of my colleagues to vote for this legislation.”