On the Amendment S.Amdt. 1242 to H.R. 3057 (Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2006) - To prohibit any funds from being used by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to approve a loan or a loan guarantee related to a nuclear project in China.

Constitutional Vote: Yes

Vote Date: July 19, 2005

Nuclear Power Plants in China. During consideration of the foreign aid appropriations bill, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) introduced this amendment to prohibit the Export-Import Bank, a U.S. government agency, from providing federal loans or loan guarantees for the construction of nuclear power plants in China. The amendment would block federal assistance to the British-owned nuclear division of Westinghouse to build such plants.

The Senate rejected Coburn’s amendment on July 19, 2005 by a vote of 37-62 (Roll Call 192). We have assigned pluses to the yeas because foreign aid programs are unconstitutional.