[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 115 (Tuesday, July 10, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H6033-H6037]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1945
                    PULLING OUT OF IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 3, 2017, the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin) is recognized 
for 60 minutes as the designee of the majority leader.


                             General Leave

  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members 
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include 
extraneous materials on the topic of my Special Order.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, throughout the next hour, we will discuss 
the President's correct decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear 
agreement, otherwise known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 
as well as the urgent need to eliminate Iran's problematic nuclear and 
nonnuclear activities.
  Joining me tonight are Members of Congress from across our great 
country who are deeply passionate about America's best interests and 
supportive of the President's decision to withdraw from the Iran deal.
  Mr. Speaker, this first speaker who we will hear from tonight is 
someone who I was elected with in 2014, who I have had many 
conversations with about the importance of ensuring that America's 
foreign policy is strong, consistent, and effective. He has been a 
strong, consistent, and effective voice for the need to pursue a better 
path forward with regard to the United States' relationship with Iran 
and the need to combat their nuclear and nonnuclear activities.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New York (Mr. Zeldin) 
for his leadership in this House on this important topic and for his 
voice that carries across all freedom-loving people about the 
relationship that we are trying to have with Iran; on the failures of 
the Iranian nuclear deal and why it is a bad deal for America and for 
our allies; why it has put the American people at risk and our security 
at risk, particularly for not only our country, but our allies, and, 
particularly, our ally Israel.
  This deal has major flaws that have been noted over the past couple 
of years, including the sunset provisions, which never should have been 
included, and zero monitoring of the Iranian military or the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps sites.
  It allowed continued research and development on advanced centrifuges 
for the Iranian nuclear program, and it didn't prohibit, Mr. Speaker, 
any ballistic missile technology. In fact, when Secretary Kerry was 
negotiating this deal, Iranian representatives traveled to Moscow, no 
doubt to attempt to acquire ballistic missile technology.
  My concerns are shared, Mr. Speaker, by a large bipartisan group in 
the House, and I recall the votes in the Senate to disapprove this 
deal. These procedural votes in the Senate demonstrated that the 
nuclear deal negotiated by Mr. Kerry and Mr. Obama was well short of 
the treaty approval level--that is, two-thirds of the Senate--which 
would have been necessary had the Obama administration actually 
attempted to submit the JCPOA as a treaty.
  Without decertification, this deal allowed Iran to head in the same 
direction as North Korea, and I support the President in his decision 
to decertify the Iran nuclear deal.
  Mr. Speaker, I pledge to work with my colleagues in the House like 
Mr. Barr from Kentucky, who chairs our Subcommittee on Monetary Policy 
and Trade on sanctions; my colleague Mr. Zeldin on the Financial 
Services Committee; as well as our colleagues on the Foreign Affairs 
Committee who will support policies that will target Iran's terror 
financing, its missile technology, its violations of human rights, and, 
certainly, the topic of the night, its nuclear program.
  It is well documented by the U.S. Department of State in multiple 
administrations that Iran is the world's number one state sponsor of 
terrorism. They have a history of arresting American citizens and 
citizens of other Western countries with no chance of a fair trial.
  We must not forget the people of Iran who are living under the 
oppression of this extremist Islamic regime that is a persistent 
violator of human rights and religious freedom. Recently, just in May, 
the regime arrested a 19-year-old Iranian girl for posting on Instagram 
a video of herself dancing in her own room. Dancing.
  I stand here tonight with the people of Iran and support their 
peaceful protests against the oppressive and corrupt mullahs in Tehran. 
The House took an important step earlier this year by passing a 
resolution in support of the Iranian people.
  Today, Iran's economy is on the brink of collapse.
  What happened to the $150 billion in freed financial assets that was 
unfrozen on day one in the Iranian deal? There was no quid pro quo on 
that. Those funds were freed, Mr. Speaker, on day one, whether Iran 
complied with the long-term aspects of the agreement or not.
  What happened to the $1.7 billion, pallets of currency that were 
delivered to the mullahs by the Obama administration in the middle of 
the night at the Geneva airport? Where is that money for the Iranian 
people? It is not hard to guess where it went or who has it, which is 
why we passed Congressman Bruce Poliquin's bill, the Iranian Leadership 
Asset Transparency Act, a commonsense measure that will let the people 
of Iran see what the regime is doing with those billions, and what has 
happened to them since Iran got the money back.
  I call on the Senate to pass this bill so that we can show the world 
how corrupt the regime is. Today, Mr. Speaker, the Iranian currency 
compared to the U.S. dollar is over 40,000 to 1. On the eve of the 
Islam Republic, it was 70 to 1.
  The Iranian people have borne the brunt of 35 years of corruption and 
terror, and I stand with them tonight, and I stand against the failures 
of the deal that we ar talking about.

  At this critical moment in Iran's history, I stand on the floor of 
the American people's House, and the Iranian people are in the streets, 
not chanting ``death to America,'' Mr. Speaker, but marching for the 
same endowed freedoms that we enjoy here every day: life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank Mr. Zeldin for hosting this Special Order and 
for giving Members the opportunity to participate and highlight the 
flaws of this failed nuclear deal, the importance of why 
decertification works, and the corruption and the brutality of the 
Iranian mullahs.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Arkansas for his 
comments. The people of Arkansas who listened to his remarks this 
evening, people back in my district who are listening to Congressman 
Hill, and people from all around America, can tell that he gets it.
  Unfortunately, as we were negotiating the Iran nuclear deal, we had 
people who were negotiating from weaker and weaker positions, and, 
unfortunately, ended up accepting a deal that crossed many of their own 
red lines that were set. I think we would have been in much better 
shape if we had more people like the gentleman

[[Page H6034]]

from Arkansas in the administration at that time. Fortunately, he is 
here in Congress with us, and I thank the gentleman for participating 
this evening.
  Speaking of getting it, we have another leader from the House 
Financial Services Committee, chairman of the Subcommittee on Monetary 
Policy and Trade,  Andy Barr from the great State of Kentucky, an 
exceptional Member of Congress who understands the financial system of 
our great country, the leverage that we have with regard to the 
sanctions, the way that leverage disappeared, and the way that we 
negotiated away that leverage with the sanctions relief.
  He understands that we are dealing with an adversary that doesn't 
respect weakness. They only respect strength. I appreciate the 
gentleman being here and everything he does in the Financial Services 
Committee here in Congress.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).
  Mr. BARR. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Zeldin), for his important leadership and his voice on this very 
critical issue and for being a stalwart defender of the rock-solid 
alliance between the American people and the State of Israel, and the 
important relationship that represents; Israel, of course, being an 
island of moderation in a very dark and dangerous part of the world.
  When the United States is asked to make foreign policy decisions, it 
is my view and it is Congressman Zeldin's view that we should stand 
with our allies. We should stand with Israel. We should not stand with 
our enemies. We should not stand with the mullahs in Tehran. But, 
instead, we should stand with our ally who always opposed this 
dangerous Iran nuclear deal.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of President Trump's decision to 
withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint 
Comprehensive Plan of Action, and I agree with the President's 
assessment that the Iran deal gave too many benefits to Iran for too 
little in return.
  I also want to thank my colleague and friend French Hill, who also 
serves with Congressman Zeldin and myself on the House Financial 
Services Committee, where the three of us have an important 
responsibility to the American people, our constituents, and our 
allies, and that is oversight of the Department of the Treasury's 
implementation and enforcement of sanctions.
  More than 4 years ago, the Obama administration reached this flawed 
nuclear deal with Iran. Since then, the destabilizing role that this 
rogue regime has played in the Middle East has not waned, but, instead, 
it has grown. Despite all the concessions to Iran, the Iranian 
leadership continues to lead mobs of supporters chanting ``death to 
America'' and ``death to Israel,'' and promises to wipe Israel off the 
face of the planet.
  The leadership in Tehran continues to pose a range of threats to the 
national security of the United States and the security of our allies 
in the region and beyond. As many observers have noted, the regime in 
Tehran does not see itself as leading a country focused on security and 
prosperity within its borders, but, instead, leading a revolution that 
it seeks to expand at the expense of its neighbors and the United 
States and it is allies.
  Iran continues to represent the number one state sponsor of terrorism 
in the world. Iran has received significant sanctions relief under the 
Obama administration's flawed nuclear deal. The regime is selling oil 
on the international market. It has received access to tens of billions 
of dollars in funds held abroad, and it has signed deals worth more 
than $100 billion in foreign investments.
  This includes, as the gentleman from Arkansas pointed out, $1.8 
billion in cash that the Obama administration gave to Iran up front 
under the previous administration's false narrative that this agreement 
would help make the Middle East more stable and a safer place.
  Yet, Iran continues to destabilize the Middle East and undermine U.S. 
foreign policy. The regime's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its 
terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, continue to prop up the murderous Assad 
regime in Syria and fuel tension across the region. Hezbollah has 
stockpiled tens of thousands of advanced rockets in Lebanon, allowing 
it to strike targets throughout Israel, and this is after the 
consummation of the Iran nuclear deal.
  At home, the regime continues to deny the Iranian people basic human 
rights, while detaining several Americans. Iran's so-called moderate 
president, Hassan Rouhani, gave the order to ``expedite'' the 
production of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of striking 
the United States while presiding over the most executions in 25 years.
  There is, according to the defenders of the JCPOA, a false narrative 
that they perpetuate, and the media is complicit. The false narrative 
being that Iran is in compliance with the deal, and this is despite 
reports that Iran continues trying to illicitly procure nuclear 
equipment from Germany after the deal was reached. The Obama 
administration subsidized Iran's nuclear program by purchasing heavy 
water, a chemical used to make weapons-grade plutonium.

  Furthermore, we know that this deal, by its own architecture, was not 
designed to ensure compliance, because there is no effective 
verification procedure embedded in the deal.
  Under the current JCPOA, the United Nations International Atomic 
Energy Agency inspectors are not even allowed to check Iranian military 
sites, the sites that are most likely to be the places where Iran 
houses and conducts its nuclear testing. A comprehensive, no-notice 
inspection regime must be put into place in any future agreement, which 
President Trump has ensured would be part of his better alternative.
  Ballistic missiles: In addition, Iran continues to develop and test 
ballistic missiles that threaten Israel and the United States. 
According to joint intelligence reports, Iran has launched well over 23 
ballistic missiles since the signing of the JCPOA. Far from lessening 
the threat, the Iran nuclear deal emboldened Iran to continue to 
violate U.N. Security Council resolutions, specifically, a blatant 
disregard of U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 that formally 
approved the Iran nuclear deal.

                              {time}  2000

  Specifically, that resolution called on Iran to not undertake any 
activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of 
delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic 
missile technology.
  Ballistic missiles, Mr. Speaker, are the most reliable way to deliver 
nuclear warheads, and no country has maintained an expensive missile 
program without also aspiring to possess nuclear weapons.
  The leadership in Iran in negotiating this agreement professed a 
commitment to civilian nuclear power.
  Why then continue to develop ballistic missiles, Mr. Speaker, if you 
are committed to only peaceful nuclear power?
  As former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter testified to Congress in 
2016, President Obama's own Defense Secretary: The I in ICBM stands for 
intercontinental, which means having the capability to fly from Iran to 
the United States.
  Intercontinental ballistic missiles, as our friend, Prime Minister 
Netanyahu, pointed out, are not designed for Tel Aviv. Those missiles 
are designed for Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, and Chicago.
  Support for Hezbollah hasn't waned since the Iran nuclear deal was 
consummated, since it was signed. Iran is and continues to be the 
largest state sponsor of terrorism, and current estimates indicate that 
Iran provides Hezbollah approximately $800 million annually. According 
to the State Department, Iran provides the majority of financial 
support for Hezbollah and Lebanon and has trained thousands of 
terrorist group fighters at camps in Iran.
  Regrettably, this deal that provided billions of dollars in sanctions 
relief and billions of dollars in hard currency to the rogue regime in 
Tehran is fueling Iranian support for Hezbollah.
  In addition to fighters, Hezbollah is believed to possess over 
100,000 missiles. It has been reported that Iran has built weapons 
factories for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, providing the ability to 
produce destructive munitions on its own near Israel. It has sent 
fighters to Syria on behalf of the Assad regime and helped train and 
develop Shiite militias furthering Iranian interests in Iraq and Yemen.

[[Page H6035]]

  This combat experience in Syria and Iraq is particularly alarming as 
Hezbollah now has thousands of experienced fighters at its disposal who 
can be redeployed to other conflicts in the future. The Iran nuclear 
deal has fueled this export of terrorism.
  Finally, reports indicate that Iran civilian airlines also 
participate in the conflict by flying arms and fighters to Syria from 
Iran and other locations in the Middle East. We have heard directly 
testimony in our committee as the House Financial Services Committee 
has conducted searching oversight over the implementation of the Iran 
nuclear deal that, in fact, this agreement has facilitated and fueled 
civilian airlines being used to send arms and fighters to support the 
murderous Assad regime.
  Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I joined my colleagues here tonight not 
opposed to diplomacy and not opposed to any Iran nuclear deal. In fact, 
all of us would like to see a peaceful denuclearization of Iran. We 
would like democracy and freedom for the people of Iran. We stand with 
the people in Iran. We are not against any agreement.
  We simply stand against a bad nuclear deal that is not verifiable, 
that doesn't prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but instead 
paves the way for Iran to have a nuclear arsenal. We stand opposed to a 
bad nuclear deal that threatens our allies, that threatens Israel, and 
that threatens the American people.
  We believe that the President can and will negotiate a better deal 
for America, and it is incumbent upon Congress to help this 
administration access the leverage it needs to achieve that objective 
and to support his vision to help hold Iran accountable to the United 
States and our allies.
  What would this agreement entail?
  Why would a new agreement be better than the current JCPOA?
  It would remove all of the flawed sunset provisions; it would require 
Iran to suspend any support of terrorist proxies; it would require Iran 
to permanently and irreversibly end its ballistic missile program; and 
it would include much better verification that would allow 
international inspectors access to all sites, including sites that are 
most likely to contain illicit nuclear activity.
  Mr. Speaker, once again, I am proud to stand with the ally of the 
United States, Israel, and stand against our enemy, the mullahs in 
Tehran.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from New York (Mr. Zeldin) again 
for his outstanding leadership and his passionate voice in defense of 
American national security and in defense of Israel and our other 
allies.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Chairman, I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for 
speaking. That was outstanding.
  For anyone who is trying to get caught up with the 101, 201, or 301 
of what has been going on over the course of the last few years and 
hasn't been paying attention, they can just listen to the gentleman's 
remarks two or three times over and understand, study, ask questions, 
and get brought completely up to speed as far as what went wrong and 
how we go forward from here.
  So I thank the gentleman for participating, for his leadership, and 
for his great remarks tonight.
  When I was first elected, I would be at events, and I would let 
people know about how I have two titles being both the highest ranking 
Jewish Republican in Congress and the lowest ranking Jewish Republican 
in Congress. But then the numbers doubled. We went from one to two in 
115th. If you are keeping score at home, that means we are on pace so 
that in January of 2023 there will be a minyan here in the House of 
Representatives of Jewish Republicans. So we have a little ways to go, 
but we are blessed to have a freshman who is joining us here tonight 
from the great State of Tennessee,  David Kustoff, whom I guess I will 
call the cochair of the Jewish Republican caucus of the House of 
Representatives. He is my friend from Tennessee, a great Member, a 
great freshman Member, and a great leader and voice on this issue.

  Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Kustoff).
  Mr. KUSTOFF of Tennessee. My friend from New York is my leader. I 
recognize that and will yield to him in that respect.
  I also appreciate his taking the time to organize this evening this 
very important issue. I think we all realize that the defense of our 
Nation and our allies is one of the most important reasons that we 
function as a government.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of President Trump's recent 
decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action also 
known as the Iran deal.
  In November of 2017, I spoke here on the House floor lauding 
President Trump's decision to decertify the Iran deal. Today I am glad 
to stand here with the news that the United States is finally 
withdrawing from this deeply flawed deal and reimposing tough sanctions 
on Tehran.
  Just a few months ago, April 30 of this year, the Israeli Prime 
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled a massive supply of documents 
revealing Iran's developments of a secret nuclear weapons program while 
claiming otherwise. In reality, Iran kept these documents in a secured 
vault ensuring that the International Atomic Energy Agency would never 
find them during their inspection. With the Prime Minister's 
revelations, the Iranian regime is believed to have been falsifying 
reports to the agency for years, and the deal failed in its basic 
objective to prevent the regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.
  This hard evidence by Israeli intelligence only further illustrates 
that Iran cannot be trusted by the international community and only 
continues to harbor hostility that threatens our national security 
interests.
  As we have seen over the years, the Iran deal has also failed to 
prevent the further testing of ballistic missiles. According to the 
Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Iran has launched 23 illicit 
ballistic missiles since the beginning of the signing of the Iran deal 
in July of 2015.
  Now, one of these was a new long-range missile with capabilities to 
carry multiple warheads. This was the country's third test of a missile 
with a range of approximately 1,200 miles and fully capable of reaching 
Israel.
  Against multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions, Iran 
continues to invest time, invest energy, and invest resources into its 
ballistic missile program. These illicit tests are dangerous, they are 
unacceptable, and they cannot continue to occur.
  Additionally, Iran continues to be one of the world's largest state 
sponsors of terrorism with the IRGC operatives in Lebanon, in Syria, 
and in Gaza, all of which surrounds our friend and our ally, Israel.
  Just today, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps Deputy Commander Major 
General Hossein Salami stated that Iran's regional allies were 
``awaiting orders to eradicate the evil regime.'' This is in reference 
to Israel. It is clear that Iran's aggression in the region is 
dramatically increasing, leaving Israel and other surrounding countries 
vulnerable to a nuclear weapons attack.
  This past February, just a few months ago, Israel shot down an 
Iranian drone that had been dispatched from a Syrian airbase 30 seconds 
after it crossed into Israeli airspace. It was not until April 13 of 
this year when Israel revealed that the Iranian drone was carrying 
explosives with plans to attack and destroy an unspecified target in 
Israel. Think about it. Had this situation been escalated to nuclear 
warfare, one can only imagine the devastation that would have ensued.
  We have got to say enough is enough. We cannot enable Iran to enrich 
tons of uranium; we cannot enable Iran to test ballistic missiles 
against the United Nations Security Council resolutions; we cannot 
enable Iran to funnel $150 billion of frozen assets to terrorist 
proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah; and we cannot enable Iran's 
belligerence to escalate.
  While the previous administration failed in their intent to inhibit 
Iran from its perilous activities, quite frankly, President Trump did 
not. He did the right thing for the United States; he did the right 
thing for Israel; and he did the right thing for our allies throughout 
the world.
  I am pleased that the President saw the dangers of the Iran deal as 
it did not stop Iran's ambition to become nuclear, but rather paves it.
  As we work in Congress to implement further sanctions against the 
Iranian

[[Page H6036]]

regime, we must protect our allies in the Middle East and effectively 
prevent Iran from progressing with their nuclear weapons program.
  I, again, want to thank my friend and my colleague from New York, 
Congressman Zeldin, for leading this discussion so that all the issues 
and, frankly, all the facts can be out on the table.
  Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the great leadership Congressman Zeldin has 
shown on this issue.
  Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Tennessee. It is 
so great to have him here not just for tonight's remarks and his 
leadership on this issue, it is just so great to have him in Congress. 
I thank the gentleman so much for his friendship and for his important 
leadership.
  Mr. Speaker, last month, President Trump correctly withdrew the 
United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA, 
otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. Tonight, during this hour, 
several Members of Congress were speaking here on the House floor 
regarding the administration's strategy to curb Iran's malign interests 
in the region and ensure Iran is no longer rewarded for its bad 
behavior.
  The Iran deal was fatally flawed for what was in it and fatally 
flawed for what was not in it. First, it is important to reflect on key 
lessons that should be learned from the manner in which the United 
States made several bad errors negotiating this so-called deal.

                              {time}  2015

  We must learn these lessons to make sure that history never repeats 
itself.
  First, the United States signed a preliminary agreement in 2013 that 
preemptively traded a large portion of our leverage even before formal 
negotiations began. The Iranians came to the table desperate for 
sanctions relief. They were not there as freedom-loving, good citizens 
of the world, nor were they aspiring to be. The leverage was sanctions 
relief, which was proof that the sanctions were working.
  Nonnuclear activities weren't also on the table but should have been. 
Once you negotiate away all the leverage that will bring the Iranians 
to the table in the first place, you don't have the leverage left to 
deal with all of Iran's bad activities that you need to deal with.
  Second, the United States underestimated just how desperate the 
Iranian leadership was in order to stay in power. There is no reason 
for the United States to assume the position of weakness that it did in 
the negotiation. We should have been, by far, the stronger party in the 
talks. For some very odd reason, the United States continued to 
negotiate from a weaker and weaker position for no good or acceptable 
reason.
  Next, one red line after another was crossed, set by the United 
States. When they were crossed, there were no consequences, further 
weakening our negotiating hand.
  The United States also very much cared about hitting target dates 
that the Iranians didn't care whether or not were hit. That, too, 
further weakened our negotiating hand.
  When the President and his administration gets rolled by a foreign 
adversary, we all, as Americans, are getting rolled. It is a huge 
problem. This was made worse by paying a $1.7 billion cash ransom to 
get our hostages released. Pallets of unmarked cash had to be airlifted 
and delivered at the same exact time as the releasing of our hostages.
  Now, there are a lot of people who say it wasn't a ransom. When you 
have to pay $1.7 billion on pallets of cash delivered at the exact same 
moment as releasing the hostages, it is kind of hard to cut it any 
other way. Paying this cash ransom to the world's largest state sponsor 
of terrorism showed the ridiculous lengths the Obama administration was 
willing to go, at any and all costs, to appease Iran and show weakness 
to other American adversaries who were witnessing this all play out.
  Recent reports revealed that the Obama administration misled the 
American people and granted a license letting Iran access the United 
States' financial system when U.S. Government officials pledged that 
they would never allow Iran to access U.S. investments or markets.
  This Iran nuclear ``deal'' provided Iran with a jackpot of up $150 
billion in sanctions relief without even asking for a signature. 
Secretary Kerry called it ``an unsigned political commitment.''
  Ben Rhodes, the White House's taxpayer-funded fiction writer, created 
an echo chamber to promote a false narrative and sell a devil's bargain 
of a deal to the American people.
  Even Democratic Members of this Chamber were feeling the heat from 
the White House, forced to support what they were privately admitting 
was an unsigned, unchecked bad deal.
  Secretary Kerry admitted this deal was never intended to receive 
congressional approval. He said this wasn't a treaty, because a treaty 
would have been ``impossible to pass.''
  I don't know how anyone out there would define what a legal 
definition of ``treaty'' is, but I am pretty confident that that 
wouldn't be it. The U.S. should have never entered this historically 
bad deal to begin with and really could have done a much better job 
negotiating it.
  As I mentioned earlier, the Iran nuclear deal was fatally flawed for 
what was in it and fatally flawed for what was not put in it. Next, I 
will discuss some of the reasons why it was fatally flawed for what was 
in it.
  The JCPOA isn't a pathway for how to prevent Iran from acquiring a 
nuclear weapon. It is a blueprint for exactly how Iran attains a 
nuclear weapon. Two of the biggest issues with what was in it, inside 
the JCPOA you have a very flawed verification regime and highly 
problematic sunset provisions.
  President Obama said this deal wasn't built on trust; it was built on 
verification. I don't know how you support a deal that is built on 
verification when you have no idea what the verification regime is. I, 
as a Member of Congress, still have not received the secret side deals 
between the IAEA and Iran that outline the verification regime.
  When Secretary Kerry was before the House Foreign Affairs Committee 
last Congress, I asked him if he had read it, and he said no. The 
Secretary of State did not read the verification regime. But the 
American public was told this was a deal not built on trust, built on 
verification.
  We have learned since some of what is in the side deals, like Iran 
collects some of their own soil samples and is the inspector of some of 
their own nuclear sites.
  It is crazy; right?
  The United States made a slew of permanent concessions in exchange 
for temporary concessions on the part of the Iranians, a point which 
comes into much greater focus as the sunset provisions are analyzed. 
The sunset clause undermines any reasonable justification for the deal, 
providing Iran the capability to obtain a nuclear weapon within a few 
years even if it didn't cheat on the deal at all. That, of course, is 
in addition to the $150 billion of sanctions relief.
  Under the JCPOA, Iran was still allowed to assemble a limited amount 
of advanced centrifuges that could enrich uranium for a nuclear weapon 
within 1 year. However, Iran has even violated those minimal 
restrictions multiple times.
  Iran has spun more IR-6 centrifuges than permitted under the JCPOA. 
It has assembled more IR-8 rotor assemblies than it is permitted to. It 
has attempted to acquire carbon fiber that it had agreed not to. It has 
stockpiled more heavy water than what was allowed under the JCPOA.

  Just think, the people who have said that Iran has not violated the 
letter of the deal are all examples of the letter of the deal being 
violated.
  With regards to verification, the Iranians have said before, during, 
and after this deal that they would allow no access to their military 
sites whatsoever. We said that we were going to have access to their 
military sites.
  The Iranians said the entire time, before, during, and after: You 
will never have access to our military sites.
  On top of it all, the United States agreed that we wouldn't have any 
of our weapons inspectors participate in any of the inspections.
  The IAEA, on its own, has failed to conduct a thorough review of 
Iran's nuclear capabilities. Just one example, in September 2015, when 
the Iranian officials then granted limited access to

[[Page H6037]]

IAEA inspectors at the Parchin facility, although environmental samples 
revealed chemically man-modified particles of natural uranium, the IAEA 
did not pursue an explanation or even an inquiry. This Joint 
Comprehensive Plan of Action is a house of cards.
  So, what are we doing? Not only was a better deal absolutely 
attainable, but no deal would have been better than this agreement.
  Next, I want to discuss in further detail why the JCPOA was fatally 
flawed for what was not in it.
  When Secretary Kerry chose to ignore Iran's bad, nonnuclear 
activities in the region, he negotiated away all of the leverage that 
brought the Iranians to the table in the first place. You cannot 
separate Iran's ballistic missile development designed to deliver a 
nuclear warhead from its nuclear weapons program.
  Iran has continued to pursue its ICBM development in violation of 
U.N. Security Council resolutions.
  Iran has continued to finance terrorism. It is the world's largest 
state sponsor of terrorism and has continued to work to overthrow 
foreign governments.
  Iran supports Assad in Syria, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen. 
They have consolidated massive territorial control, building a land 
bridge between Tehran and Beirut, a direct threat to the security and 
stability of regional partners such as Israel and Jordan.
  By failing to address Iran's nonnuclear activities, the JCPOA has 
given Iran more resources to pursue its terrorist ambitions in the 
region.
  These are, unfortunately, just a few of the examples of Iran's bad 
activities.
  Since the JCPOA was entered into, Iranian aggression in the Middle 
East, including Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere, has only increased.
  Iran has launched as many as 23 ballistic missiles since the 
conclusion of the July 2015 nuclear deal.
  They have illegally financed terrorist activities, wreaking havoc in 
the Middle East.
  Iran has recommitted to wiping Israel off of the map, calling them 
the Little Satan.
  They chant death to America, and they call United States the Great 
Satan in their parliament, in their streets on their holidays, all 
while unjustly imprisoning American citizens.
  In the past 2 years, Iran has blown up mock U.S. warships and seized 
one of our Navy vessels and subsequently held hostage and publicly 
embarrassed 10 American sailors.
  Do you remember Secretary Kerry's reaction to Iran holding hostage 
and embarrassing those sailors? His response was: Thank you.
  He was thanking the Iranians. He defended the whole situation as 
evidence of an improved relationship with Iran. That is living in an 
alternate version of reality.
  One fundamental question is often misunderstood, and in many cases it 
is not even asked: What leverage could we have, moving forward, to 
tackle all of Iran's threatening actions if we eliminate the sanctions 
that bring the Iranians to the table in the first place?
  President Trump is absolutely correct to reimpose the toughest 
sanctions against Iran's oil and financial sector and IRGC officials, 
agents, and affiliates. In order to regain the leverage that brought 
the Iranians to the table, we must increase financial pressure so that 
Iran does not have the ability to back terrorist groups across the 
world and keep their economy afloat.
  With Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor 
John Bolton working so closely with our President to counter Iran's 
aggression, I feel confident when they say: ``No path to a nuclear 
weapon, not now, not ever.''
  The onus is on Iran. If they like the sanctions relief and they want 
to keep the sanctions relief, then the United States has just a few 
reasonable requirements: the verification regime needs to be fixed; the 
sunset provisions need to be lifted; and the other bad and nefarious 
legal activities must end.
  If there are any other nations around the world that want to keep the 
sanctions relief in place, then convince Iran to change its behavior 
and agree to the United States' very reasonable demands.
  It is very telling that so many nations in the Middle East are 
supportive of President Trump's determinations to push back against 
Iranian aggression. They are the ones that are most impacted, and they 
support the decision.
  In 2009, millions of Iranians poured into the streets to protest a 
fraudulent election of then-President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The United 
States and the rest of the world then offered zero support following 
that undemocratic election. President Obama said it was none of our 
business, which proved to not only be wrong, but also a huge error in 
judgment.
  We must learn from our lesson of 2009 and not repeat that same 
mistake. The United States must support the millions of Iranians who 
continue to march in the streets desperate for support to help them 
turn the tide in Tehran and all throughout Iran. There are millions 
of people in Iran who want a free, stable, democratic Iran.

  Now, in 2018, Iranians have once again courageously poured into the 
streets to protest the brutality of President Hassan Rouhani's regime. 
Over the last few months, we are witnessing the largest protests in 
Tehran since 2012.
  Keep in mind that whenever we hear about how the most moderate 
candidates get elected in Iran--this is a point I have heard a lot. 
Iran elects the most moderate candidates, but so often they leave out 
the important point that the 12,000 most moderate candidates are denied 
access to the ballot altogether. The only choice has been to pick a 
pro-regime hardliner. We should be under no illusions otherwise.
  By withdrawing from the JCPOA, President Trump is sending an 
important message to the Iranians that America will not accept a regime 
that tortures its own people, funds terrorist activities, and vows for 
the destruction of the United States and our great ally, Israel.
  The United States is a nation that is not even close to equals with 
Iran. We are the greatest Nation in the world, and when we engage in 
these negotiations, we must do so from a position of strength and not 
relinquish that. That is all that this adversary respects. We can't be 
silent not because we want war, but because we want to prevent it.
  The good news is, now, in July of 2018, again we are treating Israel 
like Israel and Iran like Iran. One of my complaints and many other 
Americans is, for a while, we were treating Israel like Iran and Iran 
like Israel. It made no sense.

                              {time}  2030

  I mentioned earlier in this hour how important it is for the United 
States to be strong, consistent, and effective in our foreign policy; 
to strengthen our relationships with our friends; to treat our 
adversaries as our adversaries, understanding that our enemies, our 
adversaries, do not respect weakness; they only respect strength.
  I wish that the start of the negotiation had gone down very 
differently in the first place, but fast forward to today. With 
President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, Ambassador Bolton, their team, and 
with other countries aligned with us, especially in the Middle East, we 
can pursue a better path forward.
  For all of those who are interested, whether you like the JCPOA or 
not, if you like the sanctions relief or not; but hopefully all 
concerned with Iran's bad activities, especially their nuclear and 
their non-nuclear activities as well, you can help us, putting the onus 
on Iran and encouraging them to accept our very reasonable demands.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to thank, again, everyone who participated in 
tonight's hour. I would like to thank Sara Matar from my team, who has 
worked very hard on this issue throughout her time in my office. This 
is an issue that isn't going away anytime soon. It is one that will be 
passed on from one generation to the next. As our great republic 
continues to thrive, exist, grow, to be strong, and to protect our 
freedoms and liberties, we must be strong as a people.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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