[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 53 (Tuesday, April 14, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2144-S2145]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, SGR AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION

  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, on April 2, President Obama unveiled a 
nuclear agreement with Iran. The purpose of the administration's 
negotiations with Iran was simple: Prevent Iran from acquiring a 
nuclear weapon. But the agreement the Obama administration seems to 
have arrived at cast doubts on whether the administration will be able 
to achieve that goal. The framework does not shut down a single nuclear 
facility in Iran. It does not destroy a single centrifuge in Iran. It 
doesn't stop research and development on Iran's centrifuges. And it 
allows Iran to keep a substantial part of its existing stockpile of 
enriched uranium.
  It is not surprising that Members of both parties are concerned about 
this agreement. Democrats and Republicans are worried because it 
appears the administration is not trying to stop Iran from acquiring a 
nuclear weapon but simply trying to manage when Iran will develop one. 
Again and again during the process Secretary Kerry and the President 
seemed to forget that the goal of the negotiation was not a deal for 
its own sake but a deal that would actually stop Iran from developing 
nuclear weapons.
  American priorities were sacrificed for the sake of getting an 
agreement. In the process, the administration may have ensured that the 
deal they finally arrived at is too weak to achieve its goal.
  The stakes on this one are very high. The deal we are talking about 
here is not a trade agreement. It is not a land dispute. It is not a 
negotiation over water rights. It is a question of whether a tyrannical 
oppressive regime that has backed terrorists and announced its 
intention of taking the country of Israel off the map should get access 
to the most apocalyptic weapons known to man.
  The deal we arrive at in the coming months will shape the Middle East 
for decades to come, and the cost of failure will be nothing less than 
a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Imagine for a second what it 
would be like to have a nuclear-armed Middle East.
  Right now we are already witnessing a quasi-proxy war in Yemen with 
Iran supporting the Houthis and a Saudi Arabia-led coalition bombing 
the Houthis and supporting the ousted government. Imagine that same 
scenario if both major powers had nuclear weapons at their disposal. 
Make no mistake, that is the type of situation we could be facing if we 
fail to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, not to mention the 
threat that our ally Israel would be facing.
  Today the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to mark up a 
bipartisan Iran bill for consideration by the full Senate. The Iran 
Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 would give Congress 60 days to 
approve or disapprove any final agreement. This legislation would 
ensure the American people, through their representatives in Congress, 
have a voice in any final agreement with Iran.
  Given the fact the ramifications of this agreement will last well 
beyond the Obama administration, it is essential the American people 
have a voice in this process, which makes congressional review 
indispensable. This bill would also ensure Iran is held accountable for 
upholding its end of the agreement by requiring the President to 
evaluate Iran's compliance every 90 days.
  This legislation has broad bipartisan support, and I believe it will 
quickly pass the Senate. I am hopeful the President will listen to the 
concerns the American people have expressed and ensure they are 
addressed before any final agreement is reached.
  Every Member of Congress would like to see the President successfully 
conclude a deal with Iran that would prevent Iran from developing a 
nuclear weapon, but the President needs to remember that a deal is only 
acceptable if it achieves that goal. If we can't secure a deal that 
will prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, then we should step back from the 
negotiating table and reimpose the sanctions that were so successful in 
driving Iran to the table in the first place. Anything less than a 
verifiable, accountable, and enforceable deal with Iran is a failure.
  One bright spot in this Iran debate has been the bipartisan 
cooperation I just mentioned that has characterized the Iran Nuclear 
Agreement Review Act. This is a trend we are seeing a lot more of in 
the Republican-led Senate. There was the bipartisan Keystone bill, the 
bipartisan legislation to prevent suicide among veterans, the 
bipartisan legislation to reauthorize the Terrorism Risk Insurance 
Program, the bipartisan legislation to increase penalties for 
perpetrators and provide restitution for victims of child pornography, 
and now there is the bipartisan Iran bill.
  This week we have another bipartisan agreement. Today, Congress will 
vote to repeal the flawed sustainable growth rate formula that has been 
used to calculate doctors' Medicare reimbursements since its enactment 
in 1997. This formula was supposed to control spending, but it never 
worked effectively. Since 2003, Congress has had to patch the formula 
regularly to ensure that physicians are paid a reasonable amount for 
their services.
  In all, there have been 17 patches or short-term fixes--Band-Aids, if 
you will--enacted over the last 12 years. The bipartisan solution that 
is being considered on the Senate Floor today repeals this flawed 
formula permanently and replaces it with a payment system that focuses 
on quality, not quantity. It also puts in place the first significant 
reforms in Medicare in a long time.
  Without reforms, the Medicare trust fund will be insolvent as soon as 
2030, leaving seniors without access to the care they have been 
promised. The bipartisan agreement we are passing today starts the 
process of strengthening Medicare and putting it on a more sustainable 
path going forward so that the current generation of seniors as well as 
future generations can enjoy the benefits they have been promised.
  With the return of bipartisanship and regular order we have had here 
over the first few months of the Republican-led Senate, I am 
disappointed the Democrats are continuing to obstruct a bill that 
should be the most obviously bipartisan bill we have taken up all year. 
The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act would provide law 
enforcement with additional resources to combat the scourge of human 
trafficking and increase the resources available to trafficking 
victims.
  This bill was cosponsored by 12 Democrats, in addition to 21 
Republicans, and it appeared to have strong bipartisan support for 
passage. In fact, it was reported out of the Judiciary Committee 
unanimously.
  Unfortunately, Members of the Democratic Party's most extreme wing 
decided to fixate on a funding restriction in the bill that has been a 
routine part of appropriations bills and spending bills around here for 
decades. The Hyde amendment reflects the sentiments of a majority of 
Americans. That is the funding restriction that I referred to. The 
sentiment of a majority of Americans is that the Federal Government 
shouldn't be using taxpayer dollars to pay for abortions. It has been 
the consensus view around here literally since 1976.
  It is unfortunate the leftwing of the Democratic Party has taken the 
extreme step of holding up relief for victims of human trafficking over 
language that simply maintains a status quo--the status quo that has 
been in place around here since 1976.
  Every year thousands of innocent victims--most frequently women and 
children--are trafficked within the borders of the United States. Many 
of these victims are children who are bought and sold to feed the 
twisted desires of sexual predators. Others are forced into lives of 
slave labor, compelled to work in the shadows without the protection of 
the law. Rescuing these innocent victims and ensuring their captors are 
punished must be a priority.
  The Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act has been endorsed by 200 
advocacy groups, including the NAACP, the National Center for Missing 
and Exploited Children, Rights4Girls, the National Association to 
Protect Children, the Fraternal

[[Page S2145]]

Order of Police, and the National Conference of State Legislatures. It 
provides new tools for law enforcement and new help for trafficking 
victims.
  It is time for the Democrats to stop obstructing this legislation and 
to allow the Senate to pass this bill--a bipartisan achievement and 
something that is much needed and long overdue. There is a crisis in 
this country that needs to be addressed. We can do something about it. 
We ought to do it, and we ought to do it now.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Johnson). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.

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