WASHINGTON (States News Service) - Increasing scrutiny on corruption in Russia is building support for the Iran Nonproliferation Act, which would freeze payments to the Russian space agency until that country proves it is not leaking military secrets.
The bill, passed unanimously in the House last week, would prevent any payments to the Russian space agency for services connected with the International Space Station (ISS) until President Clinton certifies that Russia is actively working "to oppose the proliferation to Iran of weapons of mass destruction and missile systems capable of delivering such weapons."
The bill now heads to the Senate, where both Republican and Democratic leaders seem ready to embrace it. However, the White House still seems set on a veto.
The bill has not been formally introduced on the Senate floor yet, and probably won't be this week, a spokesman for Majority Leader Sen. Trent Lott said, as the annual spending budget bills will take priority until the budget process is done. But when it is introduced, it will probably be sent to the Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina).
Sen. Helms' office did not return repeated calls for comment, but the senator has traditionally been hostile to administration policy he deems lax on security, and he voted for a similar measure last year.
Although the top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, opposed the measure last year, his spokesman said he may support it this year.
"They are not making any progress on corruption issues," spokesman Chris Madison said, referring to news stories of billions of dollars in laundered money from Russian government accounts deposited in New York.
However, Madison said it was too early to predict the senator's vote for sure.
When the bill was in the House last week, both Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Missouri) and Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) signed on as co-sponsors, clearing the way for its unopposed passage in the House.
A similar bill passed the Congress last year, but was vetoed by President Clinton. This year, although the administration has not explicitly promised to do the same, it still opposes the bill.
"The administration sees this bill as potentially counterproductive," said a White House statement. "The administration shares with Congress a strong interest in promoting nonproliferation and in combating efforts" to stop Iran for gaining weapons of mass destruction.
"However, our concerns are that (the bill) might weaken the United States ability to persuade the international community to halt such transfers to Iran," the statement said.
The White House is worried about pushing some countries into positions they are not ready to take, said an administration official speaking on condition of anonymity. This bill may require some countries to move faster on the Iran sanction issue than current negotiations allow, the official said.
"[R]estrictions on 'extraordinary payments' in connection with the ISS could have a negative impact on ISS assembly," the statement said, "without advancing U.S. nonproliferation goals."
Refusing to pay the Russian space agency "could result in significant cost growth and schedule delays to the U.S. and other ISS partners," the statement said. "As well as strengthen elements in Russia that oppose Russian participation in ISS."
"I am not seeking to kill the space station with our legislation," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-New York), Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, in a prepared statement. "To the contrary, I want the space station to go forward, with Russian participation... All we are asking for is assurance, before such payments are made, that our Russian partners are not also cooperating with Iran."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has criticized the bill, the Associated Press reported, saying it could have "the most negative impact on U.S.-Russian cooperation in the fields of nonproliferation and export control."
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