Office of the Historian

189. Memorandum From Acting Secretary of State Christopher to President Carter1

Washington, June 19, 1980

[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]

2. Tarapur. I testified this morning, accompanied by Gerry Smith, before a joint hearing of the SFRC and Government Affairs Committee on Tarapur. At the outset, I announced that you had signed the Executive Order authorizing the two shipments.2 There was a sharp though predictable attack on our position. John Glenn characterized the decision to go ahead with the sale as fatal to the NNPA and recommended changing the law to allow for these exceptions. Bill Cohen used the platform for a partisan political attack, and Ed Markey came over from [Page 491] the House to read his press statement attacking the decision. Otherwise, questioning by Frank Church and Chuck Percy was supportive, and other members present appeared undecided.

If, as we expect, Church, Javits and Baker support the proposal, we should be able to carry the SFRC. Now that the Executive Order has been signed, the SFRC will take exclusive jurisdiction of the issue. Our strategy remains fixed on gaining the support of the SFRC and then the full Senate. The House Foreign Affairs Committee is pressing for hearings, and I expect an even rougher time there, probably next week.

[Omitted here is material unrelated to India.]

  1. Source: Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, Subject File, Box 23, Evening Reports (State): 6/80. Secret.↩
  2. On June 19, Carter signed Executive Order 12218, which authorized the United States to ship 39,718 kilograms of low-enriched uranium to India. For the text of the Executive Order and Carter’s transmittal message, see Public Papers: Carter, 1980, Book II, pp. 1137–1138. In a July 11 memorandum to Carter, Christopher reported that, in a July 10 meeting between Goheen and Gandhi, Goheen noted that “Gandhi expressed appreciation for the position you have taken on the Tarapur fuel shipments.” (Carter Library, National Security Affairs, Brzezinski Material, President’s Daily CIA Brief File, Box 29, 7/11/80–7/15/80.↩