Van Hollen Joins Merkley, Markey, Bipartisan Group of Senators in Pressing Trump Administration to Release All Documents from U.S.-Saudi Nuclear Deal

Today, U.S. Senator Chirs Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and a bipartisan group of Senators in pressing the Trump Administration to declassify and publicly release the two side letters accompanying the proposed U.S.-Saudi civil nuclear cooperation agreement, referred to as a "123 agreement."

The Trump Administration recently submitted the 123 agreement to Congress-as is required by law-but while the agreement references the side letters, the letters themselves are classified at the lowest possible level, which is unprecedented. Because the side letters affect the obligations and operation of the underlying agreement, Congress and the public cannot fully assess what the United States and Saudi Arabia have agreed to without seeing them.

"Congress has a statutory responsibility under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act to review the proposed nuclear deal, which seeks to facilitate nuclear cooperation with significant implications for U.S. national security interests. Access to the full text is required for the Senate and the public to have a clear understanding of the commitments being made on the nation's behalf and those being made by Saudi Arabia to the United States," wrote the bipartisan group of Senators in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. "The side letters affect the obligations and operations of the underlying agreement and cannot be viewed in isolation from it; the President's own transmission letter to Congress states that the agreement '…was concluded with two accompanying side letters.' Their public release would also allow civil society, independent experts, and other affected stakeholders to scrutinize the deal."

They emphasized, "Transparency and open debate are cornerstones of our democracy. Congress and the American public must have a meaningful opportunity to review and debate the key components of the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal before it potentially enters into force. To that end, we call on you to declassify and release the two side letters without delay."

Joining Van Hollen, Merkley, and Markey in signing the letter were U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.).

Full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Secretary Rubio and Secretary Wright:

We write to urge you to immediately declassify and publicly release the two side letters associated with the Trump Administration's proposed U.S.-Saudi 123 civil nuclear cooperation agreement. While the text of the agreement and the bilateral safeguards agreement are now publicly available in unclassified form, the two side letters remain classified at the lowest possible level.

In previous 123 agreements, the Executive Branch publicly released the agreement along with side letters and related documents. Releasing the agreement text without the side letters here leaves that practice only half met. We are aware of no precedent for classifying and withholding the side letters, particularly when the stated purpose is peaceful nuclear cooperation.

Congress has a statutory responsibility under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act to review the proposed nuclear deal, which seeks to facilitate nuclear cooperation with significant implications for U.S. national security interests. Access to the full text is required for the Senate and the public to have a clear understanding of the commitments being made on the nation's behalf and those being made by Saudi Arabia to the United States. The side letters affect the obligations and operations of the underlying agreement and cannot be viewed in isolation from it; the President's own transmission letter to Congress states that the agreement "…was concluded with two accompanying side letters." Their public release would also allow civil society, independent experts, and other affected stakeholders to scrutinize the deal.

Transparency and open debate are cornerstones of our democracy. Congress and the American public must have a meaningful opportunity to review and debate the key components of the U.S.-Saudi nuclear deal before it potentially enters into force. To that end, we call on you to declassify and release the two side letters without delay.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.