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US President George Bush [Images] signed the nuclear deal on Wednesday. Here is what he said on the historic day.
Thank you for coming. Welcome to the White House. Today, I have the honor of signing legislation that builds on the growing ties between the world ' s two largest democracies,
This legislation will enhance our cooperation in using nuclear energy to power our economies; it will help us work together even more closely to reduce the danger of nuclear proliferation across the world.
This legislation represents more than three years of hard work by a lot of people. I appreciate the work of the Indian-American leaders from across the nation.
I thank the members of the United States Congress for working hard on this piece of legislation. I ' m especially grateful for the leadership provided by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who worked hard to make sure this bill made it through both Houses at the very end of the session.
I thank the leaders of the Foreign Affairs Committees in the House and the Senate -- Senator Joe Biden; Dick Lugar; Chris Dodd, who is with us; as well as Representatives Howard Berman and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. I also welcome the members of Congress here on the stage who worked hard to get this legislation done. I appreciate so very much the contributions of two leaders who played an important role in crafting this legislation -- the late Henry Hyde and the late Tom Lantos.
Other members who ' ve joined us -- John Warner, Senator from Virginia; Eliot Engel, Democrat, House Foreign Affairs committee member from New York; Congressman Joe Crowley from New York.
Members of the administration who have joined us -- Mr. Vice President, thank you. I appreciate the hard work that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [Images] did to bring this deal to fruition -- as well as Secretary Sam Bodman, at the Department of Energy.
I am so honored here that -- to have the Ambassador of India to the
I thank the congressional staff who worked hard on this legislation. I congratulate you for the constructive work. I appreciate the supporters of the U.S.-India Nuclear Civil Agreement that are here today. All in all, welcome. This is a -- it ' s a big deal.
Even though the
Despite these common interests and values, it was not long ago that relations between the
One energy source that can generate large amounts of electricity with zero emissions of air pollution or greenhouse gases is nuclear power. So three years ago, Prime Minister Singh -- who I consider a dear friend -- and I resolved to work together on a landmark agreement paving the way for our nations to cooperate on nuclear power. By undertaking new cooperation on civil nuclear energy,
For our part, the
Our agreement will also strengthen global nonproliferation efforts.
The bill I sign today approves the 123 agreement I submitted to Congress -- and establishes the legal framework for that agreement to come into effect. The bill makes clear that our agreement with
The legislation makes no changes to the terms of the 123 agreement I submitted to Congress. It enables me to bring that agreement into force and to accept on behalf of the
This agreement sends a signal to the world: Nations that follow the path of democracy and responsible behavior will find a friend in the
Laura and I send our best wishes to the hundreds of millions of people in
And it ' s now my honor to sign the United States-India Nuclear Cooperation Approval and Nonproliferation Enhancement Act.
ALSO READ OUR COMPLETE COVERAGE ON NUKE DEAL
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