Tom Harkin

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. HARKIN. I ask unanimous consent that after Senator Hatch, the Senator from Iowa be recognized to speak.

Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator for yielding. Mr. President, parliamentary inquiry, I understand the Senator from Rhode Island is speaking next under a unanimous consent agreement, and after that is Senator Hatch?

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Senator.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, will the Senator yield for a unanimous consent request?

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Michele Chang, a detailee to my staff, and Peter Reinecke and Sabrina Corlette of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of the consideration of S. 1415.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring to the attention of Members of Congress and the country a young constituent of mine. Some of you may have read about Timothy Cordes in Monday's Washington Post. For those of you who didn't, Tim--who is from Eldridge, Iowa-- just received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Notre Dame, with a 3.99 grade point average. Tim was the valedictorian of his class and will begin medical school at the University of Wisconsin this summer. These would be outstanding accomplishments for any young person. They are especially remarkable in this case, because Tim is blind--only the second blind person ever admitted to a U.S. medical school. Tim has a genetic condition that gradually diminished his vision until he was blind when he was 14. Doctors diagnosed him with the disease when he was two. They talked about how blindness would limit Tim's life. But his parents wouldn't accept that for their son. His mother said that after talking with the doctors, ``I went home and just ignored everything they said.'' Thank goodness for that! I have spent much of my time in the Senate working toward a society in which all Americans, those with disabilities and those without, have the same opportunities to succeed.That's what all people with disabilities want--an equal opportunity to succeed. Some will succeed and some won't, but it will be because of their abilities, not their disabilities. Tim personifies the fact that when society accommodates people with disabilities to allow them to reach their full potential, we all benefit. At Notre Dame, Tim overcame his blindness by asking fellow students to describe the molecular structures they were studying and by using his computer to re-create the images in three-dimensional forms on a special monitor he could touch. In addition to his academic achievements, Tim earned a black belt in tae kwon do and jujitsu, went to football games and debated with this friends whether the old or new ``Star Trek'' is better. Tim's biochemistry professor called him a remarkable young man and the most brilliant student he's ever had. One of Tim's roommates said that he was ``simply amazing to be around.'' Tim doesn't mind being an inspiration to others, but he doesn't think of himself that way. In his words, ``[i]t was just hard work.'' Well, that's for sure! For my part, I am honored to represent Tim and his parents and to be able to take this time to congratulate him and his parents for all their great work. Congratulations! Mr. President, I ask that the full text of the Washington Post article be printed in the Record. The article follows: [From the Washington Post, May 18, 1998] Blind Valedictorian Is Headed to Med School; Notre Dame Student Credits ``Just Hard Work'' for His Success (By Jon Jeter) South Bend, IN.--Sure but sightless, Timothy Cordes arrived on the University of Notre Dame' campus four years ago, an 18-year-old freshman from Eldridge, Iowa, who wanted to enroll in the biochemistry program. Faculty members tried, politely, to dissuade him. Just how, they wondered aloud, could a blind student keep up with the rigorous courses and demanding laboratory work of biochemistry? Cordes graduated today from Notre Dame with a degree in biochemistry and a 3.991 grade-point average. He was the last of Notre Dame's 2,000 seniors to enter the crowded auditorium for commencement. His German shepherd, Electra, led him to the lectern to deliver the valedictory speech as his classmates rose, cheered, applauded and yelled his name affectionately. Cordes starts medical school in two months, only the second blind person ever admitted to a U.S. medical school. He does not plan to practice medicine. His interest is in research, he said: ``I've just always loved science.'' His life has been both an act of open, mannerly defiance and unshakable faith. And this unassuming, slightly built young man with a choirboy's face awes acquaintances and friends. Armed with Electra, a high-powered personal computer and a quick wit, Cordes managed a near-perfect academic record, an A-minus in a Spanish class the only blemish. Two weeks ago, he earned a black belt in the martial arts tae kwon do and jujitsu. ``He is really a remarkable young man,'' said Paul Helquist, a Notre Dame biochemistry professor. Helquist at first had doubts but ultimately recommended Cordes for medical school. ``He is by far the most brilliant student I've ever come across in my 24 years of teaching,'' the professor said. If others find some noble lessons in this life, Cordes perceives it more prosaically: He's merely shown up for life and done what was necessary to reach his goals. ``If people are inspired by what I've done, that's great, but the truth is that I did it all for me. It was just hard work. It's like getting the black belt. It's not like I just took one long lesson. It was showing up every day, and sweating and learning and practicing. You have your bad days and you just keep going.'' Despite his academic accomplishments, Cordes led a fairly ordinary life in college, debating, for example, the merits of the old and new ``Star Trek'' series with Patrick Murowsky, a 22-year-old psychology major from Cleveland who roomed with Cordes their sophomore year. ``The thing about Tim is that he's fearless and he just seems to have this faith. Once we were late for a football game and we had to run to the stadium. He had no qualms about running at top speed while I yelled `jump,' or I would yell `duck' and he would duck. And we made it. He is simply amazing to be around sometimes,'' said Murowsky. Cordes has Leber's disease, a genetic condition that gradually diminished his vision until he was blind at age 14. When doctors at the University of Iowa first diagnosed the disease when he was 2, ``it was the saddest moment of my life,'' said his mother, Therese, 50. ``The doctors . . . told us: `He won't be able to do this, and don't expect him to be able to do this,' '' Therese Hordes recalled. ``So I went home and just ignored everything they said.'' The ability to conceptualize images has greatly helped Hordes in his studies, Helquist said. The study of biochemistry relies heavily on graphics and diagrams to illustrate complicated molecular structures. Hordes compensated for his inability to see by asking other students to describe the visual sides or by using his computer to re- create the images in three-dimensional forms on a special screen he could touch. Cordes applied to eight medical schools. Only the University of Wisconsin accepted him. (The first blind medical student was David Hartman, who graduated from Temple University in 1976 and is a psychiatrist in Roanoke, Va.) ``Tim has always exceeded people's expectations of him,'' said Teresa Cordes, who, with her husband, Tom, watched Tim graduate. ``He really does inspire me.''

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I understand we are in morning business?

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I wanted to take just a little bit of time this morning to again alert Senators and others about troubling new developments in South Asia after India thumbed its nose at the world community and exploded five underground nuclear weapons. Conditions seem to be spiraling out of control in the nation of India. We now see that a key Indian official, according to the news this morning, a key Indian official is warning Pakistan and making very threatening, provocative statements, about the area that we know as Jammu-Kashmir. Indian Home Minister Advani--there is a picture of him here clenching his fist, saying they were, basically, not going to have a peaceful resolution at all of the situation in Kashmir. I am quoting from the article: While India's previous government had a policy of not making hostile statements about Pakistan, the BJP [that is the party that is now in power in India] as recently as two years ago advocated ``reclaiming'' Pakistan's portion of Kashmir. It is interesting that: In the course [it says here] of broadening its platforms for this year's parliamentary elections--and cobbling together a coalition government of 14 disparate parties--such references to Kashmir were dropped. But Advani [the Home Minister] was pointed in his reference today to the disputed state, although he couched it more in terms of Pakistan's stance toward Kashmir than India's. But now Advani said, and I quote from the article: [Nuclear weapons tests] has brought about a qualitatively new stage in Indo-Pakistan relations and signifies--even while adhering to the principle of no first strike--[that] India is resolved to deal firmly with Pakistan's hostile activities in Kashmir. Wait a minute, Mr. President. He is talking about Pakistan's hostile activities in Kashmir? It is India that has around 300,000 troops in Kashmir. It is India that is spending about a large portion of its military budget every year in Kashmir. It is by Indian troops that human rights groups have said that in the last several years, perhaps in the last 10 years, upwards of 13,000 people have been killed in Kashmir--not by Pakistani troops, but by Indian troops. What this Home Minister Advani is doing is trying to cover what India has done in Kashmir by blaming it on Pakistan. Quite frankly, Kashmir is the East Timor of South Asia, to those of us who have followed the problems of East Timor, a tiny little island nation on the eastern tip of Indonesia. It was a Portuguese colony for several hundred years. When the Portuguese left, the Indonesians came in to claim East Timor, but they have no rightful claim to it; it is a separate island nation. Since that time, East Timorese have been put to death by the Indonesians, slaughtered, people driven out of their homes, driven out of their jobs. What has happened in East Timor is a blight on Indonesia, and the world community has spoken out forcefully against what Indonesia has done in East Timor. But the world community is standing silently by while the same kind of slaughter and repression is occurring in the tiny state of Kashmir. If you go back to when India and Pakistan were partitioned off, this tiny area up in northwest India on the border of Pakistan and India, the United Nations recognized in the late 1940s that this issue needed to be resolved, and urged for it to be resolved through a plebiscite, to have a vote of the people in this area: Did they want to stay with Pakistan, or did they want to go with India? But India refuses outside mediation, even from the UN. I had always hoped, as many have hoped, that we would have some kind of a peaceful resolution of Kashmir. But now India is shaking its fist at Pakistan and speaking provocatively of reclaiming certain areas of Kashmir that have already been recognized as being at least an adjunct to, adhering to Pakistan, an area called Azad Kashmir. Mr. President, I don't think we can idly stand by and let India continue these kinds of provocative measures. The world community must speak with one voice in condemning the actions by India with strong sanctions. I will have a sense-of-the-Senate resolution, which I hope we can bring up sometime this week in conjunction with others, dealing with the Indian explosion of nuclear weapons and dealing with the Pressler amendment that Senator Brownback and I will be offering sometime this week, I hope. I have a sense-of-the-Senate resolution calling upon the United States to take the lead in getting other nations together to act as an intermediary in the dispute on Kashmir. Better that we act now, better that we try to seek peaceful resolutions of Kashmir before this whole thing blows up, before the BJP of India is able to take it to a higher level, a more provocative level that would involve the use of arms. I hope we can get the support of other Senators in asking the United States to act as a mediator to this very dangerous situation that now exists in Kashmir and South Asia. I thank the President. I yield the floor. Mr. GRAMS addressed the Chair.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Will the Senator yield?

Mr. HARKIN. That is the problem.

Mr. HARKIN. Yes, this exact language was adopted by both the House and the Senate last year on the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill.

Mr. HARKIN. Yes.

Mr. HARKIN. Again, I want to make it clear I am very supportive of the Hutchinson amendment. I believe it is a good amendment. This is a friendly amendment--just to add the word ``child.'' In other words, under ``forced and indentured labor'' to include ``forced and indentured child labor'' to clarify section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. I am proud to be a cosponsor of the Hutchinson amendment.

Mr. HARKIN. I have spoken with the author of the pending amendment, and I am very supportive of Senator Hutchinson's amendment. This is a friendly amendment, which he accepts. My amendment does not in any way change the intent of the Hutchinson amendment nor does it add any more money. Basically, this amendment reflects the intent of Congress to include forced and indentured child labor in the interpretation of section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The Congress spoke with one voice when it instructed the U.S. Customs Service to block from entry into the United States any imports made by forced or indentured child labor, as they are inherently for imports made with forced and indentured labor. This clarification of congressional intent was part of the fiscal year 1998 Treasury-Postal appropriations bill which the President has signed into law. So, again, this amendment does not change anything really of the Hutchinson amendment. It simply adds forced and indentured child labor as part of the amendment. As I said, it preserves the congressional intent passed last year. The U.S. Customs Service will still be able to aggressively pursue items made with convict labor, forced labor, or indentured labor, and prevent them from reaching our shores. They should rightly do so. That is why I am supportive of the Hutchinson amendment. Again, the reason this is necessary is a little over a year ago-- actually about 2 years ago now--I contacted the Treasury Department to ask if section 307 of the Tariff Act of 1930 covered forced and indentured child labor. I got a letter back saying, well, they did not know. They needed clarification. Last year, under the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill, we provided that clarification that it indeed covered forced and indentured child labor. And that is what my amendment does here; it just adds those words back in there. And, again, it should be added because in many cases these children are like slaves. They are sold, maybe sometimes for an outstanding debt that is owed to a family. They are traded like cattle. Typically what happens is, a child is sold into a factory or plant as a payment for an outstanding debt. The middle man, a loan shark, transfers the child to a work setting far away from his home. And these kids literally work as virtual slaves doing anything from making rugs to soccer balls to serving as prostitutes, to breaking bricks or mining granite or making glassware. Many times these kids are never released from their bondage until they get too old to do the work. They are punished severely; a lot of times they work 12 to 15 hours a day. Mr. President, last year I visited a place out of New Delhi called the Muki Ashram, or ``liberation retreat'' established in 1991 by Kailash Satiyarti, president of the South Asian Coalition on Child Servitude, located right outside of New Delhi, a place where bonded child laborers are freed from the shackles of slavery. They are brought there, they are rehabilitated, they are able to go to school, learn a trade and regain their sense of self-worth. I was deeply moved by this establishment. I saw somewhere between 50 and 100 kids who were there, many as young as 8 years of age, many of whom had been beaten. I saw kids that had marks still on their face and their arms where they had been burned with red-hot pokers and things like that. These kids were now being taught in a school, provided nutrition. As I said, they get their sense of self-worth back. I have two stories here of two of the kids who I saw when I was there. I ask unanimous consent that these two stories be printed in the Record.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, this is a second degree to the Hutchinson amendment. I ask unanimous consent to add my name to the Hutchinson amendment as a cosponsor; and Senator Wellstone also wanted to be added as a cosponsor of the amendment.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I ask that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I have an amendment to the Hutchinson amendment I send to the desk.

Mr. HARKIN. It does not come out of this.

Mr. HARKIN. For this purpose.

Mr. HARKIN. To answer the chairman's point, it does not come out of defense. It just authorizes the Department of Treasury to allocate $2 million.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Parliamentary inquiry. What is the floor situation right now? What are we on?

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I want to take a little time again today to talk about the perilous situation that we find in south Asia at this point in time. Once again, in complete disregard of world opinion, in complete disregard of peace in the region, in complete disregard of the concerns of its neighbors and its allies and friends, yesterday the nation of India once again detonated two more nuclear devices. That makes five in 2 days. What I hear around here, Mr. President, people are saying, what have they done? Have they lost their senses? Have they lost all concept of reality? Have they gone berserk? Are they completely nutty now? Those are the kinds of things I hear around the Chamber and around the Capitol--people talking about India, and what has happened to them. I do not believe that all Indians have gone berserk or that all Indians are crazy, but certainly something has happened with their Government to flaunt what they have done, to go ahead and not only set off three in 1 day, but two the next day, and also near the border of Pakistan. For the life of me, I cannot understand what they can possibly be thinking of. So, I am pleased that the President has announced that he will, in accordance with the law, invoke the full range of sanctions that are required under the Nuclear Policy Prevention Act of 1994. These are tough, and we want to make sure that the administration follows through on them. We have to end all foreign assistance and loans to the Nation of India. We must terminate all military aid and weapons transfers. We must oppose international foreign aid and financial assistance to the Nation through the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. I understand many of our allies have decided to join in placing these sanctions on India. The law requires it, and we must place the full measure of the law on India in this regard. Mr. President, I visited the south Asia region twice in the last year and a half. I understand the complexity of their internal politics and their international relations. But I must say this, that whatever problems there may have been before have been multiplied a thousandfold by what India just did. Again, I hope the nations in that region will exercise caution and restraint in light of this. Right now, India has become the pariah of the world community of nations, and rightfully so, for what it has done. It should remain a pariah for a considerable amount of time, until it reverses its course, until it sits down with its neighbors to reach peaceful solutions in that area, until India is willing to sit down with its neighbor, Pakistan, and solve once and for all the issue of Kashmir; until India is ready to sit down with its neighbor, Pakistan, and secure their borders; until India is willing to disavow putting their nuclear arsenals within their military. Until that time, until these things are done, India will and should remain a pariah among the world community of nations. Earlier today, our Secretary of Defense appeared before our Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. We discussed these developments in south Asia and what they mean. Will there be a nuclear arms race now in the region? Will Pakistan follow suit and detonate a nuclear weapons test in response to India? What about China? What is China going to do now? How about Iran? Don't forget, they have a border also. What is Iran going to do now that India has taken this step? So what are all these nations going to do? Secretary Cohen this morning, in open testimony, indicated that we may see a chain reaction of events. I think that is an apt term, considering the physics of nuclear fission. Just as a nuclear explosion is an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction, so we may see uncontrolled events now happen in that region. But, just like a nuclear chain reaction, there are things you can do to slow it down and stop it. Just as in a nuclear powerplant, to slow down the chain reaction, they stick in the graphite rods to slow down the reaction, so we need to insert some graphite rods into the events that just happened in south Asia. What I mean by that is that I believe that certain steps must be taken to slow down these events. First of all, as I mentioned, we must apply the full force and effect of law on the sanctions to India. Second, I believe we must meet with Pakistan at the earliest possible time to discuss our mutual security needs in that area of the world; to discuss them with Pakistan, who has been a friend and an ally going clear back to the establishment of Pakistan as a nation. When people wondered what direction Pakistan would go, would they go to the Soviet Union or would they tilt toward the United States, Pakistan declared at that time they would go with the United States, they would follow the path of democracy and freedom and not with the Soviet Union. Time and time and time again, Pakistan has come to our aid, our assistance, whether it was overflights over the Soviet Union for purposes of intelligence gathering, helping us in that terrible war in Afghanistan. There are still over a million refugees in the country of Pakistan from that war that helped topple the Soviet Union. Every step of the way, Pakistan has been our friend and our ally. So I think we need to meet with them at the earliest possible time to discuss our mutual security interests in that area. Next, I hope President Clinton will, at the earliest possible time, indicate that he will not be visiting India this year. I know there has been a trip planned for the President to visit Pakistan and India this fall. I call upon the President to indicate now that, because of these events, it would not be right and proper for him to visit India but that it would be right and proper for him to visit Pakistan and perhaps other nations in that area such as Bangladesh. So, I call upon him to call off that visit to India to send another strong signal. And, third, in order to put these graphite rods back into this chain reaction and to slow it down, I believe we need to press ahead with the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, or the CTBT, that would outlaw all nuclear weapons tests globally. So far, 149 nations have signed the treaty. In fact, we thought we were going to get it all done in August of 1996, except one nation walked out and refused to sign it--India. And now we know why. Is it too late for a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty? I don't believe so. In fact, I believe what has happened in India more than anything indicates that we have to act now in the U.S. Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. We have not taken it up yet, and we should. We have signed it. It is now sitting before the Senate. We ought to take it up because the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will help put those graphite rods back in that chain reaction, slowing down uncontrolled events in south Asia. The CTBT will not by itself eliminate the possibility of proliferation, but it will make it extremely difficult for nuclear nations, such as India, to develop sophisticated weapons that could be delivered by ballistic missiles. Again, we have India, and they set off their underground explosions. But, as we know, that is not the end of the line in terms of developing the kind of weapons that can be delivered by ballistic missiles. If we don't sign and if we don't urge other nations and India to sign the CTBT, this will not be the end of India's nuclear testing, believe me. They are now going to have to refine their warheads. They are going to have to have further testing so that they have the kind of warheads they can deliver with missiles and perhaps aircraft. We have to stop that from happening, and that is why we need the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It would have been better if we had this in effect beforehand to stop what happened in India, but we didn't have it. We can't turn the clock back. We can't put the genie back in the bottle, but what we can do is we can push ahead now. Here is how I see it, Mr. President. We have to put the full force and effect of the law on India with all these sanctions, cut off all aid, military assistance and cut off all World Bank loans and IMF. In fact, I think we ought to withdraw our ambassador, which the President has done, and not send him back. Then I believe the U.S. Senate should ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and insist that India do so immediately, before we ever lift any sanctions. In that way, India may have a bomb, but they may not have something that they could deliver on the head of a missile. That is why I believe it is so important that we bring up the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and ratify it in the Senate and stop this madness, stop these uncontrolled events that may take place in south Asia unless we act right now. In fact, I must say, I know the occupant of the chair has spoken on this issue. I know he had a hearing on it today. Quite frankly, I am somewhat shocked that more Senators are not out here talking about what has happened in India in the last couple of days. I believe this is the biggest single danger to world peace that we have faced perhaps in the last 20 to 30 years, because uncontrolled events can start taking place. On the one hand, I believe we must come down with the full force and effect of the law on India. I believe the President should call off his trip there this fall. I believe we need to meet with our friends in Pakistan to discuss our mutual security needs in that area. On the other hand, we need to ratify a comprehensive test ban treaty and then say to India, ``If you want to rejoin the community of nations, sign, join, no more testing.'' Then we get other nations to sign it, and we will have a comprehensive test ban treaty and will stop the uncontrolled events that may be unfolding in south Asia. It is a perilous time. India cannot be excused from what it did. Hopefully, the community of nations can put the proper pressure on India to come to its senses and join the rest of the world community in saying, ``No; that they will never ever test nuclear weapons ever again.'' Mr. President, I yield the floor. Mrs. HUTCHISON addressed the Chair.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, every year thousands of Americans are victimized by fraudulent telemarketing promotions. And, unfortunately, these scam artists prey most often on our senior citizens. The losses every year are estimated to be in the billions of dollars. My amendment will help law enforcement to more effectively combat these abuses. Today, its all too easy for telemarketing rip-off artists to profit from the current system. How do these rip-offs occur? Advertisements regarding sweepstakes, contests, loans, credit reports and other promotions appear in newspapers, magazines, and other direct mail and telephone solicitations. The operators of many of these phoney promotions set up a telephone boiler room for a few months in which a number of phones are operated to receive calls responding to their ads. They steal thousands--even millions--of dollars from innocent victims and then they simply disappear. They take the money and run--moving on to another location to start all over again. Here's just one example. Not too long ago, 30,000 Iowans received postcards from an organization calling itself Sweepstakes International, Inc. The postcard enticed recipients to call a 900- number and they were charged $9.95 on their phone bill. Based on a Postal Service investigation, civil action was initiated in U.S. District Court in Iowa. As a result, the promotion was halted and $1.7 million was frozen. This represented just one and a half month's revenue from the scam! My amendment will protect telemarketing victims by providing law enforcement the authority to more quickly obtain the name, address, and physical location of businesses suspected of telemarketing fraud. Phone companies would have to provide law enforcement officials only the name, address and physical location of a telemarketing business holding a phone number if the officials submitted a formal written request for this information relevant to a legitimate law enforcement investigation. It will make it easier for officers to identify and locate these operations. This is similar to the procedure that is already in place for post office box investigations. Mr. President, it is necessary to crack down on serious consumer fraud. With this change, we will have many more successful efforts to shut down these rip-offs artists like several recent cases in my home state of Iowa.

Mr. HARKIN

Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I understand that the Senate is not on any legislation right now. I would like to take just a few minutes of the Senate's time to talk about the disturbing events that happened in South Asia yesterday. Mr. President, to paraphrase a speech that President Roosevelt gave 57 years ago in the House Chamber, yesterday is a day that will live in infamy, for the Nation of India. At a time when world tensions are being reduced, when the cold war is over, when nuclear arsenals are being reduced, at a time when we are on the threshold of signing a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Nation of India deliberately and provocatively, with total disregard for world opinion and total disregard for regional stability in South Asia, detonated three nuclear weapons. And to make matters even worse, they were detonated near the border with Pakistan. These tests were conducted without advance warning to the international community. They clearly work against the goals of nonproliferation and international stability. Indian's Prime Minister's principal secretary said afterwards that with the test, ``India has a proven capability for a weaponized nuclear program.'' Mr. President, India's behavior is clearly unacceptable. These underground tests could well trigger a nuclear arms race in the region. I believe that the United States should be prepared to exercise the full range and depth of sanctions available under law. For example, the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Act of 1994 requires the President to cut off almost all U.S. Government aid to India, bar American banks from making loans to the Government, stop exports of American products with military uses such as machine tools and computers, and, most importantly, oppose aid to India by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. An article that appeared this morning in the New York Times pointed out that, ``India is the world's largest borrower from the World Bank, with more than $44 billion in loans; it is expecting about $3 billion in loans and credits this year.'' Well, I think it is time for the United States to exercise its voice and vote in the World Bank, and let India know that no longer can it come and get that kind of money if all it is going to do is spend its money on developing and testing not only fission weapons but yesterday a thermonuclear weapon, a hydrogen bomb. Further quoting from this article, Monday's tests ``came as a complete shock, a bolt out of the blue'' to the White House, one senior administration official said. ``It's a fork in the road.'' ``Will India and Pakistan be locked in a nuclear arms race? Will the Chinese resume nuclear testing now?'' What is also disturbing is that our intelligence agencies obviously did not pick up any signs that the tests were imminent and reported that activities at the test site appeared to be routine. Let's see now. How much did we spend on our intelligence agencies last year? About thirty billion dollars? And they can't even tell us when one of the largest nations on Earth is going to explode nuclear weapons? You wonder what that $30 billion is going for. I think a thorough review needs to be made of our intelligence operation. Back to the point, Senator John Glenn, our colleague, who is the author of the law, is quoted as saying, ``Those sanctions are mandatory,'' and the only way to delay them is if the President tells Congress that their immediate imposition would harm national security. And that delay can only last 30 days. Congress can only remove the sanctions by passing a law or joint resolution. ``It would be hard to avoid the possibility of sanctions,'' a senior State Department official said. ``There is no wiggle room in the law.'' Further quoting our colleague, who is quoted again in the New York Times this morning, Senator Glenn called the tests ``the triumph of fear over prudence, a monumental setback for efforts to halt the global spread of nuclear weapons.'' Mr. President, the Nation of India is no longer the nation of Mohandas Gandhi, I am sorry to say. The Nation of India has embarked on a new and dangerous course in South Asia, one that I think has ominous foreboding for all of their neighbors in that area, and also for us here in the United States. Of course, it is my fervent hope that India's neighbors will show restraint. It is my hope and my desire that Pakistan and China and other nations in that region will recognize the importance of caution despite this dangerous, inflammatory and provocative move by India. Again, they should not follow the lead of India but recognize the importance of restraining a nuclear arms race. I believe that this Senate should also press for appropriate action by the international community. The international community should join with the United States in bringing to bear whatever sanctions it can, especially in the World Bank to cut off all loans to India. Again, what India has done underscores the need for a nuclear test ban treaty. But now it becomes clear why, in August of 1996, after years of difficult negotiations, we finally got a final treaty supported by all countries for a comprehensive test ban, India refused to sign. Maybe now we know why. The treaty was endorsed by a 158-to-3 margin at the United Nations. However, India walked out and said they weren't going to sign. We cannot give up. We cannot let this action by the Government in India deter us from our goal of a comprehensive test ban. I do not in any way mean my remarks today to implicate all of the wonderful people of India, many of whom I have counted as my friends, many of whom worked very hard on the issues of human rights, social justice, ending child labor. But I do wish by my remarks today to implicate and condemn in the strongest possible language permitted in this body the actions by the Government of India. This was its decision. This was its deliberate decision to conduct these tests in clear disregard for the opinion of the world. So the Government of India bears a heavy responsibility for what follows. I hope they do not, although my hopes seem to be feint in light of what the Government of India said yesterday, intend to weaponize their nuclear program. Not only have they tested these weapons, they seem to have sent a clear signal that they are going to incorporate these weapons in their military arsenal both for short- range, medium- and obviously perhaps even for long-range purposes. At a time when India needs to invest in education, when it needs to invest in its infrastructure, at a time when India really needs to reach peaceful agreements with its neighbor, Pakistan, on the issue of Kashmir, which is still a volatile issue. At a time when China and India need to get together to discuss their roles in South Asia in the future, India has thumbed its nose at its neighbors. When the Government of Pakistan came to power under the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it reached out to India, to the previous government. Prime Minister Sharif held out the olive branch. He asked that talks be conducted, that they take steps to reduce the tensions in the region. Those talks proceeded, tensions were reduced, and then elections were held in India and a new government was elected. The hopes and the dreams, the actions taken by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, and others in the region are now dashed and doomed if India doesn't make a quick U-turn in its policies. But India has already taken its actions, and its actions, I am afraid, will have very serious repercussions. But, again, we cannot give up. I know that Pakistan several times called for restraint, to call for talks. Well, I call on Pakistan and the other nations of the region not give up on their efforts to pursue a peaceful path, to again reach out to India to begin the long and arduous task of negotiations to reduce tensions and to reduce the nuclear arsenal in that area of the world. I remain fearful not only because of Pakistan but because of China. What will China do now? Will China believe that it must now proceed to further test its nuclear weapons to show India that it is not going to be intimidated? No, Mr. President, what India did yesterday will live in infamy, and it is sad because India has made great progress in the last 50 years. I note at this time the President has recalled our ambassador to India. I compliment him for that action. Quite frankly, I hope this sends another strong signal to India that it is not going to be business as usual with the U.S. Government because of what they did yesterday. It cannot be said too strongly that India took a terrible, terrible step yesterday and only India can undo it. I hope they will. But their words and their actions indicate to me they may and probably will not. I feel sorry for India. I feel sorry for the people of India. I feel sorry for the kids that are working in the plants and the factories and the carpet looms who want a better future and a better education. I feel sorry for the millions of people in poverty who want a little bit better life in India but are now going to have to struggle because more and more of their money is going into their weapons and their nuclear arsenal. And I feel sorry for the people of Pakistan, too, again, who have made great strides in the last 50 years to build a nation, to build an infrastructure that will allow for a moderate Islamic State to exist in that area, and I feel sorry for the people of China. What is its Government going to do now? Mr. President, we can only hope and pray that South Asia will now see this as a sign that they must get together and sign a comprehensive test ban treaty now, stop nuclear testing now, stop the arms race now; that India and China and Pakistan must get together and work out their problems through serious peaceful negotiations and not through the bluster of provocative actions taken by India yesterday to increase the arms race, especially the nuclear arms race. Mr. President, I call on India to disavow what they did yesterday, to admit they made a mistake, to reach out to their neighbors in a serious attempt to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and to stop this madness once and for all. I yield the floor.