Washington , DC – U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) have introduced a resolution calling on the parties participating in the 2005 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York City this month to reaffirm their support for nuclear nonproliferation and take additional measures to strengthen the treaty.

“North Korea has already withdrawn from the Treaty and escaped penalty,” Senator Feinstein said. “ Iran may be next. How many others will follow if we stand still and do nothing to strengthen the treaty? That is why we must come together to breathe new life into the nuclear nonproliferation regime and seriously consider steps to strengthen the treaty and make the world safer from the threat of nuclear terror.”

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty took effect in 1970. Signed by 188 states, the treaty has guided global nuclear non-proliferation efforts for 35 years.

The resolution introduced by Senators Feinstein and Hagel calls on parties to the 2005 Review Conference to:

• Insist on strict compliance with the nonproliferation obligations of the Treaty and to undertake effective enforcement measures against states that are in violation of their treaty obligations;

• Agree to establish more effective controls on sensitive technologies that can be used to produce materials for nuclear weapons;

• Support the efforts of the United States and the European Union to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability;

• Support the Six-Party talks that seek the verifiable disarmament of North Korea ’s nuclear weapons program;

• Accelerate programs to safeguard and eliminate nuclear-weapons usable material to the highest standards to prevent access by terrorists or other states;

• Agree that no state may withdraw from the Treaty and escape responsibility for prior violations of the treaty or retain access to controlled materials and equipment acquired for “peaceful” purposes; and,

• Accelerate implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty-related disarmament obligations and commitments that would, in particular, reduce the world’s stockpiles of nuclear weapons and weapons-grade material.

Concerns that states may abandon the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have heightened in recent years since North Korea ’s January 2003 withdrawal and subsequent announcement that it possesses nuclear weapons. A recent report by the United Nations stated that, “We are approaching a point at which the erosion of the nonproliferation regime could become irreversible and result in a cascade of proliferation.”

“The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has played a critical role in protecting U.S. national security interests and promoting peace and stability in the international community,” Senator Feinstein said. “It has successfully convinced countries such as Ukraine , Kazahkstan , Belarus , Libya and South Africa to forgo possession of nuclear weapons. At the dawn of the nuclear age, who would have thought this would be possible?”

Additional co-sponsors of the resolution include Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.), and Carl Levin (D-Mich.).

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