Nuclear Cooperation Agreement with Russia: Statutory Procedures for Congressional Consideration and Their Implementation

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In some cases hyperlinks allows you to access all versions of a report, including the latest. Note that many reports are periodically updated.On May 13, 2008, President Bush submitted to Congress a proposed agreement for nuclear cooperation with the Russian Fe deration. Under the Atomic Energy Act (AEA), the text of such an agreement is to be submitted to the committees of jurisdiction for at least 30 days of consultation, and the agreement itself is then to be submitted to Congress for 60 days, during which the committees are to consider it and report recommendations. The AEA requires the President to state his approval of the agreement before the 60-day period begins, but he did so in his initial letter of submission, perhaps rendering moot the consultive purpose of the 30-day period. Yet both committees of referral met with State Department officials on the agreement during this period. These sessions may constitute the consultations the AEA directs during the 30-day period, but might also be taken as the hearings mandated during the 60-day period.

The agreement goes into effect unless a joint resolution of disapproval is enacted by the end of the 60-day period, which, the President’s submittal stipulated, will immediately follow the 30-day period. Both periods are measured in ‘days of continuous session,’ which includes all days except recesses of either house of more than three days, with ‘continuity’ broken only by the sine die adjournment of a Congress. September 8, when the August recess is to end, is to be the 59th day of the full 90-day period, and the projected sine die adjournment on September 26 may be only the 77th day. A later sine die adjournment, a ‘lame duck’ session, recall by the President or by congressional leadership, or the use of pro forma sessions instead of recesses could allow the 90th day to be reached within the 110th Congress. Otherwise, the agreement could not take effect until the end of a new disapproval period starting anew after the 111th Congress convenes in January, 2009.

The AEA prescribes an expedited procedure for Senate consideration, including committee discharge, a non-debatable motion to proceed to consider, a 10-hour limit on consideration, and a prohibition on amendments. For the House, the Committee on Rules is invited to prescribe similar terms of consideration. A disapproval resolution was introduced in the House on May 14, and another, by committee leaders, as the AEA prescribes, at the start of the 60-day period on June 24. On the same date, Senate committee leaders introduced a resolution of approval. Although enactment of the approval resolution neither block nor hasten the effectiveness of the agreement, it could apparently be considered under the expedited procedure, and might thereby prevent expedited action on a disapproval resolution. Congress could also disapprove the agreement, or approve it with conditions, by enacting an alternative measure under its general rules. The President might likely veto any disapproval or conditional approval, in which case the agreement would go into effect unless Congress overrides the veto before the end of the disapproval period. Inasmuch as the President may take 10 days for his action, the timely enactment of a disapproval resolution may be feasible only if Congress initially passes it with more than 10 days remaining in the disapproval period. This report will be updated to reflect congressional action.

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