Two senior lawmakers are questioning the factual basis of the Bush administration's defense of Russia's nonprolifera-tion record, a key part of the justification for the administration's decision to sign a nuclear cooperation agreement with Moscow. But in a report for the Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS, a group of former administration officials says the agreement merits support - in part because of its nonproliferation and international security benefits.rnThe two lawmakers, Michigan Representatives John Dingell and Bart Stupak, asked the Government Accountability Office to check the administration's Nuclear Proliferation Assessment Statement, which the Bush Administration this month submitted to Congress along with the text of the cooperation agreement with Russia. Such pacts are known as "123 agreements" because section 123 of the US Atomic Energy Act requires the US to have such agreements with its nuclear trading partners.
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