Washington, D.C. - Rep. Howard L. Berman (CA-Van Nuys) today introduced a resolution of inquiry demanding that the State Department provide documents to Congress on the circumstances surrounding the recent release of a report on proliferation to Iran.

 

“On July 28, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Bill Delahunt and I sent a letter to Secretary Rice requesting a briefing on why this report – which includes information about two Indian companies that made WMD-related exports to Iran – was not submitted to Congress prior to the House vote on India nuclear deal,” Berman said.  “But the State Department hasn’t shown any interest in meeting this very reasonable bipartisan request, so my only recourse was to introduce this resolution of inquiry, which would compel the agency to provide relevant documents.”

 

“The semi-annual report on proliferation to Iran – required by the Iran and Syria Nonproliferation Act – was delivered to the House International Relations Committee on July 28, just two days after the House approved the India nuclear bill,” Berman said.  “The State Department claims the timing of the report was purely coincidental, but I find it very difficult to escape the conclusion that it was deliberately withheld to limit the political fallout.”

 

“The information in the report was directly relevant to the debate on the India nuclear bill, and particularly the motion to recommit, which would have conditioned civilian nuclear cooperation on India’s support for U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” Berman continued.  “The State Department was clearly aware of this proliferation by Indian companies in the months and weeks leading up to the vote, and there is no excuse for failing to share it with Congress.”

 

“My resolution is not about the merits of nuclear cooperation with India,” Berman said.  “it’s about a much larger issue -- the right of Congress to have access to all relevant information when considering an extremely important piece of legislation with serious implications for U.S. foreign policy and national security.” 

 

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