[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 71 (Thursday, May 17, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E838]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




EXPRESSING SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING IMPORTANCE OF PREVENTING IRAN FROM 
                 ACQUIRING A NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAPABILITY

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                               speech of

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 15, 2012

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor of H. Res. 568 to 
commend Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Berman for crafting 
this bi-partisan resolution and to urge my colleagues to support the 
bill.
  As President Obama has made clear, it is unacceptable for Iran to 
develop a nuclear weapon. The U.N. Security Council has passed numerous 
resolutions demanding that Iran comply with the Nuclear 
Nonproliferation Treaty and suspend its nuclear enrichment activities. 
The IAEA has repeatedly found Iran to be in violation of the U.N. 
resolutions.
  A nuclear-armed Iran would pose a grave threat to the State of 
Israel, a country the President of Iran has stated should ``be wiped 
off the map.'' A nuclear Iran would also trigger a nuclear-arms race in 
the Middle East that would further destabilize an already volatile 
region. It is in the national security interests of the United States 
to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
  The economic sanctions imposed on Iran have succeeded in bringing the 
Iranians to the negotiating table in Istanbul. It remains to be seen 
whether the Iranians are simply engaged in stall-tactics or are willing 
to end their effort to produce weapons-grade nuclear material. I know 
the Obama Administration will insist on a verifiable agreement when 
talks resume later this month. This resolution should send a strong 
signal to the Iranian regime that Congress stands with President Obama 
on this critical matter.

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