Commemorating The International Day Against Nuclear Tests And Kazakhstan'S Enduring Contribution To Global Security
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Tests and recognize Kazakhstan's enduring contribution to world peace and security. August 29, 2026, marked 35 years since Kazakhstan's historic decision to close the…
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Tests and recognize Kazakhstan's enduring contribution to world peace and security.
August 29, 2026, marked 35 years since Kazakhstan's historic decision to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site. In tribute to that decision, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously designated August 29 as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests in 2009, drawing global attention to the devastating human and environmental consequences of nuclear testing. Similarly, on September 8, Kazakhstan and its Central Asian neighbors will mark the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia.
The consequences of nuclear testing are deeply understood in both our countries. More than one thousand U.S. nuclear tests exposed servicemembers, workers, and downwind communities in Nevada and throughout the West to radioactive fallout. At Semipalatinsk, 456 Soviet nuclear tests between 1949 and 1989 exposed approximately 1.5 million people and left a lasting human and environmental toll. The Nevada-Semipalatinsk Movement, which united citizens affected by nuclear testing in Kazakhstan and the United States, helped generate the public momentum necessary to end testing at the site.
After inheriting the world's fourth-largest nuclear arsenal following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan voluntarily relinquished those weapons and chose security through diplomacy, international cooperation, and nonproliferation policy. The United States was a close partner in this historic transformation. Through the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, our countries eliminated weapons and delivery systems, dismantled nuclear infrastructure, sealed test tunnels, and secured dangerous materials in the former Soviet Union. Project Sapphire alone removed nearly 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan quickly translated its national commitment into a regional security framework. In 2006, the five Central Asian states signed the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Central Asia at Semipalatinsk. The Treaty remains an important pillar of regional stability and the global nonproliferation regime, transforming a former center of nuclear testing into a symbol of arms control cooperation. Kazakhstan has continued to put these principles into practice. It hosted two rounds of P5+1 negotiations with Iran in 2013 which led to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, supported implementation of the 2015 nuclear agreement, and now hosts the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant. Kazakhstan's commitment to denuclearization and stability demonstrates how the credibility earned through disarmament and reinforced by decades of cooperation with the United States can help address one of today's most difficult nuclear challenges.
Mr. Speaker, we should recognize Kazakhstan not only for its historic decisions, but also for the responsibilities it continues to assume. Its example proves that nonproliferation is not an abstract aspiration, but a practical instrument of national security and diplomatic problem- solving.
I urge the Senate to ratify the Protocol to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, which the United States signed in 2014. This step would reinforce American nonproliferation objectives and recognize the obligations Kazakhstan and its neighbors have upheld for two decades. I also urge Congress to repeal the Jackson-Vanik amendment and establish permanent normal trade relations with Kazakhstan. This outdated Cold War-era restriction bears no reasonable relationship to modern trade relations with Kazakhstan, its partnership with the United States, or its extraordinary contribution to global nuclear security.
Kazakhstan has demonstrated that disarmament can strengthen sovereignty and national security. The United States should recognize this unprecedented record not only with words, but through concrete action.