[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 128 (Tuesday, September 8, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1230]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   INTRODUCING A JOINT RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE USE OF THE UNITED 
    STATES ARMED FORCES TO ACHIEVE THE GOAL OF PREVENTING IRAN FROM 
                       OBTAINING NUCLEAR WEAPONS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ALCEE L. HASTINGS

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, September 8, 2015

  Mr. HASTINGS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation that 
will authorize the sitting President or his successors to use the armed 
forces of the United States to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear 
weapons.
  On July 14, 2015, a Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) 
designed to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is used solely for 
peaceful purposes was finalized. With history as our guide, any 
agreement with the Iranian government must be met with skepticism, and 
therefore, backed up with muscularity--my legislation provides this 
muscularity.
  Indeed, the importance of an international framework that actually 
prohibits Iran from ever becoming a nuclear weapons state cannot be 
overstated. As Ranking Democratic Member of the U.S. Helsinki 
Commission and the only American to have served as President of the 
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's (OSCE PA) 
Parliamentary Assembly, as well as a former member of both the House 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, I am acutely aware of the challenges in dealing with Iran's 
nuclear program.
  Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon at any time is a threat to the 
United States as well as our allies in the region, and its questionable 
sincerity in forgoing the procurement of such weapons has created 
legitimate cause for concern in the past and must, therefore, inform 
how we proceed today and in the future. It is my sincere hope that my 
legislation will provide the added hard power necessary to deter Iran 
from continued efforts to obtain nuclear weapons, including skirting 
compliance with the JCPOA, if implemented.
  Mr. Speaker, this legislation will send a clear message to the 
Iranian regime that the United States is willing to ensure that Iran 
never becomes a nuclear weapons state at any cost.

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