Washington, D.C. – Following the Trump Administration’s submission to Congress on a proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, referred to as a “123 agreement,” Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley—co-chair of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group and a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee—issued the following statement:
“With this deal, President Trump is not only triggering a nuclear arms race in the Middle East but also weakening America’s security and standing on the world stage.
“The President’s decision to provide Saudi Arabia with a nuclear deal that does not meet the bipartisan Gold Standard nor mandate the Additional Protocol, both necessary to ensure sensitive U.S. technology is not used to help build a nuclear bomb, is dangerous and a strategic mistake for our national security.
“That Trump chose to submit the agreement in the middle of his unauthorized war against Iran is yet another blunder. The Administration must explain how agreeing to a deal that weakens nonproliferation safeguards will prevent Iran from seeking a nuclear bomb, including why Iran would accept a stricter agreement than Saudi Arabia. We know that Saudi Arabia’s leaders have previously threatened to pursue a bomb if Iran develops one.
“The deal could even open the nuclear floodgates beyond Iran. The 2009 U.S.-UAE nuclear deal included the Gold Standard but allowed the Emirates to renegotiate if the U.S. reached a more favorable nuclear agreement with another Middle East state.
“The President also claims that the deal is ‘subject to’ Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords, but it is unclear how this goal will be enforced. The agreement will go into effect after 90 days unless Congress acts to stop it. The President also had the opportunity to negotiate Saudi-Israel normalization, including an irreversible pathway towards a Palestinian state as part of the initial negotiations under his Administration, but chose not to do so.
“While the world has changed significantly since I was a nuclear weapons policy analyst at the Pentagon and the Congressional Budget Office, one thing that hasn’t changed is the danger of nuclear proliferation. Congress must act to conduct rigorous oversight of this deal and explore all avenues and tools at our disposal to prevent another global arms race.”
Merkley began his career in public service as a nuclear weapons policy analyst at the Pentagon and the Congressional Budget Office and has been a leading voice in Congress for strong nuclear arms control and American national security. As co-chair of the Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group, he has spoken out against the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the threat of another global arms race.
###