§ 6041. — Withholding of foreign assistance from countries supporting Juragua nuclear plant in Cuba.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 22USC6041]
TITLE 22--FOREIGN RELATIONS AND INTERCOURSE
CHAPTER 69A--CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY (LIBERTAD)
SUBCHAPTER I--STRENGTHENING INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS AGAINST THE CASTRO
GOVERNMENT
Sec. 6041. Withholding of foreign assistance from countries
supporting Juragua nuclear plant in Cuba
(a) Findings
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) President Clinton stated in April 1993 that the United
States opposed the construction of the Juragua nuclear power plant
because of the concerns of the United States about Cuba's ability to
ensure the safe operation of the facility and because of Cuba's
refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or ratify the
Treaty of Tlatelolco.
(2) Cuba has not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons or ratified the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the latter of
which establishes Latin America and the Caribbean as a nuclear
weapons-free zone.
(3) The State Department, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and
the Department of Energy have expressed concerns about the
construction and operation of Cuba's nuclear reactors.
(4) In a September 1992 report to the Congress, the General
Accounting Office outlined concerns among nuclear energy experts
about deficiencies in the nuclear plant project in Juragua, near
Cienfuegos, Cuba, including--
(A) a lack in Cuba of a nuclear regulatory structure;
(B) the absence in Cuba of an adequate infrastructure to
ensure the plant's safe operation and requisite maintenance;
(C) the inadequacy of training of plant operators;
(D) reports by a former technician from Cuba who, by
examining with x-rays weld sites believed to be part of the
auxiliary plumbing system for the plant, found that 10 to 15
percent of those sites were defective;
(E) since September 5, 1992, when construction on the plant
was halted, the prolonged exposure to the elements, including
corrosive salt water vapor, of the primary reactor components;
and
(F) the possible inadequacy of the upper portion of the
reactors' dome retention capability to withstand only 7 pounds
of pressure per square inch, given that normal atmospheric
pressure is 32 pounds per square inch and United States reactors
are designed to accommodate pressures of 50 pounds per square
inch.
(5) The United States Geological Survey claims that it had
difficulty determining answers to specific questions regarding
earthquake activity in the area near Cienfuegos because the Cuban
Government was not forthcoming with information.
(6) The Geological Survey has indicated that the Caribbean
plate, a geological formation near the south coast of Cuba, may pose
seismic risks to Cuba and the site of the power plant, and may
produce large to moderate earthquakes.
(7) On May 25, 1992, the Caribbean plate produced an earthquake
numbering 7.0 on the Richter scale.
(8) According to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, summer winds could carry radioactive pollutants from
a nuclear accident at the power plant throughout all of Florida and
parts of the States on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico as far as
Texas, and northern winds could carry the pollutants as far
northeast as Virginia and Washington, D.C.
(9) The Cuban Government, under dictator Fidel Castro, in 1962
advocated the Soviets' launching of nuclear missiles to the United
States, which represented a direct and dangerous provocation of the
United States and brought the world to the brink of a nuclear
conflict.
(10) Fidel Castro over the years has consistently issued threats
against the United States Government, most recently that he would
unleash another perilous mass migration from Cuba upon the enactment
of this chapter.
(11) Despite the various concerns about the plant's safety and
operational problems, a feasibility study is being conducted that
would establish a support group to include Russia, Cuba, and third
countries with the objective of completing and operating the plant.
(b) Withholding of foreign assistance
(1) In general
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the President shall
withhold from assistance allocated, on or after March 12, 1996, for
any country an amount equal to the sum of assistance and credits, if
any, provided on or after March 12, 1996, by that country or any
entity in that country in support of the completion of the Cuban
nuclear facility at Juragua, near Cienfuegos, Cuba.
(2) Exceptions
The requirement of paragraph (1) to withhold assistance shall
not apply with respect to--
(A) assistance to meet urgent humanitarian needs, including
disaster and refugee relief;
(B) democratic political reform or rule of law activities;
(C) the creation of private sector or nongovernmental
organizations that are independent of government control;
(D) the development of a free market economic system;
(E) assistance for the purposes described in the Cooperative
Threat Reduction Act of 1993 (title XII of Public Law 103-160)
[22 U.S.C. 5951 et seq.]; or
(F) assistance under the secondary school exchange program
administered by the United States Information Agency.
(3) ``Assistance'' defined
As used in paragraph (1), the term ``assistance'' means
assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 [22 U.S.C. 2151
et seq.], credits, sales, guarantees of extensions of credit, and
other assistance under the Arms Export Control Act [22 U.S.C. 2751
et seq.], assistance under titles I and III of the Agricultural
Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954 [7 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.,
1727 et seq.], assistance under the FREEDOM Support Act, and any
other program of assistance or credits provided by the United States
to other countries under other provisions of law.
(Pub. L. 104-114, title I, Sec. 111, Mar. 12, 1996, 110 Stat. 800.)
References in Text
Upon the enactment of this chapter, referred to in subsec. (a)(10),
means the date of enactment of Pub. L. 104-114, which was approved Mar.
12, 1996.
The Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1993, referred to in subsec.
(b)(2)(E), is title XII of div. A of Pub. L. 103-160, Nov. 30, 1993, 107
Stat. 1777, which is classified generally to chapter 68A (Sec. 5951 et
seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5951 of this title and
Tables.
The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, referred to in subsec. (b)(3),
is Pub. L. 87-195, Sept. 4, 1961, 75 Stat. 424, as amended, which is
classified principally to chapter 32 (Sec. 2151 et seq.) of this title.
For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title
note set out under section 2151 of this title and Tables.
The Arms Export Control Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is Pub.
L. 90-629, Oct. 22, 1968, 82 Stat. 1320, as amended, which is classified
principally to chapter 39 (Sec. 2751 et seq.) of this title. For
complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note
set out under section 2751 of this title and Tables.
The Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954,
referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is act July 10, 1954, ch. 469, 68 Stat.
454, as amended. Titles I and III of the Act are classified generally to
subchapters II (Sec. 1701 et seq.) and III-A (Sec. 1727 et seq.),
respectively, of chapter 41 of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete
classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title note set out
under section 1691 of Title 7 and Tables.
The FREEDOM Support Act, referred to in subsec. (b)(3), is Pub. L.
102-511, Oct. 24, 1992, 106 Stat. 3320, as amended, also known as the
Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets
Support Act of 1992. For complete classification of this Act to the
Code, see Short Title note set out under section 5801 of this title and
Tables.
Transfer of Functions
United States Information Agency (other than Broadcasting Board of
Governors and International Broadcasting Bureau) abolished and functions
transferred to Secretary of State, see sections 6531 and 6532 of this
title.
