[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 22 (Wednesday, February 5, 2014)]
[House]
[Pages H1596-H1597]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             IRAN SANCTIONS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Gutierrez) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GUTIERREZ. Mr. Speaker, there is no area of foreign policy that 
produces greater concern amongst American citizens than the prospect of 
a nuclear-armed Iran. Whether Democrat, Independent, or Republican, 
there is remarkable unity across the ideological spectrum that we must 
do everything in our power to prevent that outcome.
  We have heard the steady drumbeat over the years that Iran is moving 
closer and closer to achieving nuclear capability. We have seen the 
regime engage in dangerous provocations and offer support to Hezbollah 
and other militant groups that have threatened the stability of the 
region and caused significant concerns for our allies and friends.
  The Obama administration worked with our international partners to 
impose crippling sanctions on Iran. Those sanctions covered Iran's 
banking, energy, shipping, shipbuilding, insurance, and broadcasting 
sectors, and even gold and precious metals.
  Now, after decades of tension between the United States and Iran and 
the escalating international pressure of sanctions and isolation, we 
have seen positive steps in relatively quick succession. After the 
election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013, I joined over 130 
of my colleagues calling on President Obama to ``utilize all diplomatic 
tools to reinvigorate ongoing nuclear talks,'' including the potential 
that ``bilateral and multilateral sanctions be calibrated in a way that 
they induce significant and verifiable concessions.''
  Those diplomatic overtures, coupled with the debilitating sanctions 
on Iran's energy and banking sectors, yielded the historic phone call 
between President Obama and President Rouhani, the first direct contact 
between leaders of our two nations in 34 years, and, ultimately, the 
signing of the Joint Plan of Action representing real progress towards 
a nuclear agreement.
  There remain ample reasons to question the prospects of a long-term 
agreement with Iran. We have heard the President 1 week ago in this 
very room speak of the challenges for negotiators, cautioning ``they 
may not succeed. We are clear-eyed about Iran's support for terrorist 
organizations like Hezbollah, which threaten our allies, and the 
mistrust between our nations cannot be simply wished away.''
  Now, Members of Congress in both Chambers are discussing legislation 
for new and expanded sanctions. Our constituents, deeply concerned with 
the Middle East and strongly in favor of peace, are asking us what we 
think, how we would vote, and what we should do as a Congress and as a 
nation.
  I have had the honor of serving on the House Permanent Select 
Committee on Intelligence and as a Member have regular access to the 
classified assessments of the professionals in our intelligence 
community, who provide a much fuller and clearer picture

[[Page H1597]]

of the situation in Iran. I cannot tell you what the information is 
here or anywhere else because it is appropriately classified, but based 
on the classified briefings I have received on the situation in Iran 
and the Joint Plan of Action, I am very reluctant to support any 
additional sanctions at this time.
  Mr. Speaker, given the importance of this issue to all Members and 
the stakes involved in preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, I think many of 
my colleagues would be in a much better position to evaluate the 
options before us if they also had access to the very classified 
briefing from which I regularly benefit. That is why I wrote a letter 
to the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, and Democratic Leader Nancy 
Pelosi last week asking them to convene a classified briefing for 
Members of the House of Representatives.
  All of us could have had access to classified materials or request a 
briefing if we wanted one on a case-by-case basis, but the point is 
that we are facing a crossroads as a nation, and we are facing a 
crossroads as a Congress, and I want us to be as informed as possible.
  I understand the mistrust between the United States and Iran, and the 
desire of some in this body to seek additional sanctions, even as we 
are implementing the terms of the 6-month agreement.

                              {time}  1015

  We need clear-eyed, apolitical, informed decisionmaking so we can 
make the best possible choices on behalf of our constituents and the 
Nation.
  I believe my colleagues would find great value in the classified 
briefing and come away with greater confidence in the work of the 
administration and our international partners.
  I have been convinced that now is not the time to consider additional 
sanctions, but I want my colleagues to make up their own minds and to 
do so with as much information as possible, so I renew my request for 
classified briefings as soon as they can be arranged.
  I have every confidence that if talks falter or we have evidence that 
Iran is not abiding by the terms of the Joint Plan of Action, the 
Congress will not hesitate to take appropriate actions, including 
imposing new sanctions on Iran. But with Iran at the negotiating table, 
taking steps to halt enrichment and submit to enhanced inspections and 
monitoring, it is worth giving diplomacy the chance to succeed.

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