Dick Lugar: “I oppose his amendment. While the amendment would merely state that it is U.S. policy to continue to support…”

“I oppose his amendment. While the amendment would merely state that it is U.S. policy to continue to support implementation of the Security Council resolution that was passed in June 1998 in response to the nuclear weapons tests in South Asia--a resolution we voted for--I believe the amendment casts us back to a very different time, well before the miraculous changes in India's relations with the United States and with the world that occurred as a result of the July 2005 Joint Statement and India's decision to turn the corner on nonproliferation policy generally. I do not believe this bill is the right place to address ourselves to the past. This bill is about the future. We have taken adequate account in the bill of the concerns the Senator's amendment would address. Section 1033 of the Lugar-Biden bill makes it the policy of the United States that: India remains in full compliance with its non- proliferation, arms control, and disarmament agreements, obligations, and commitments.”