mr. chairman , i thank the gentleman for yielding me this time . 
i rise in support of this amendment offered by the gentleman from massachusetts ( mr. markey ) xz4002530 . 
the global nuclear nonproliferation regime that has served the world well for many years has developed shortcomings , and the markey amendment addresses one such shortcoming that i think we must address . 
this is an issue that is especially important to me as chairman of the subcommittee on international terrorism and nonproliferation . 
we held a hearing in april on the nuclear nonproliferation treaty , and one of the key issues that we looked at was how npt states should address the noncompliance or attempted withdrawal of a state from the treaty . 
this amendment takes a step forward in solving this challenge by calling upon the president to work with other international atomic energy agency member states to mandate that any state which is found to be in noncompliance with its npt obligations , or attempts to withdraw from the npt , will be compelled to return all the nuclear materials and technology it received as a consequence of being an npt member . 
i believe such a provision would be helpful in convincing states to adhere to their npt obligations . 
states such as north korea and iran have likely already used their status , past status in the case of north korea , as npt states to develop nuclear weapons programs , and i believe it is vital that the united states play a leading role in multilateral efforts to close the loophole in the npt that allows states to receive nuclear energy assistance , but not pay any penalty if they subsequently withdraw from the treaty , as has north korea . 
compelling the surrender of materials and equipment gained under the npt would be a positive step forward , so i am pleased to support the markey amendment . 
