[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 35 (Wednesday, February 24, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S865-S866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 SENATE RESOLUTION 72--OPPOSING THE LIFTING OF SANCTIONS IMPOSED WITH 
  RESPECT TO IRAN WITHOUT ADDRESSING THE FULL SCOPE OF IRAN'S MALIGN 
ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM, BALLISTIC AND CRUISE MISSILE 
  CAPABILITIES, WEAPONS PROLIFERATION, SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM, HOSTAGE-
    TAKING, GROSS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, AND OTHER DESTABILIZING 
                               ACTIVITIES

  Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. Cruz, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. Hawley, 
Mr. Cramer, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Boozman, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Sasse, Mr. 
Marshall, Mr. Daines, Mr. Rounds, Mr. Young, Mr. Barrasso, Mrs. 
Blackburn, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Tuberville, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Thune, Ms. 
Lummis, Mr. Inhofe, Mr. Hoeven, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Lankford, and Mr. 
Crapo) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:

                               S. Res. 72

       Whereas the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (commonly 
     referred to as the ``JCPOA''), an agreement that was 
     finalized by the administration of President Barack Obama and 
     the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the 
     People's Republic of China, and the Russian Federation in 
     July 2015, provided Iran permanent sanctions relief and 
     access to more than $100,000,000,000 in return for temporary 
     restrictive measures on Iran's nuclear program;
       Whereas, under the JCPOA, restrictions on the number and 
     types of centrifuges that Iran may manufacture, retain, test, 
     and use, the number and types of enrichment facilities that 
     Iran may construct, and the amount and level of enriched 
     uranium and heavy water that Iran may stockpile, will expire;
       Whereas multiple United Nations Security Council 
     resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 required Iran to 
     suspend all enrichment of uranium, but the JCPOA did not 
     require Iran to cease its enrichment of uranium, a failure 
     that is directly responsible for Iran's expanded enrichment 
     activity today;
       Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (in 
     this preamble referred to as ``UNSCR 2231''), adopted on July 
     20, 2015, called on Iran not to undertake any activity 
     related to nuclear-capable ballistic missile activities for 8 
     years and imposed a 5-year ban on conventional arms transfers 
     to and from Iran;
       Whereas neither the JCPOA nor UNSCR 2231 adequately 
     addressed the threat emanating from Iran's ballistic and 
     cruise missile program or long-standing support for 
     terrorism, and the sunset provisions applied to prohibitions 
     in UNSCR 2231 and the JCPOA severely weakened their 
     restrictions and inadvertently legitimized that program and 
     support;
       Whereas, based on the shortcomings of the JCPOA and UNSCR 
     2231, bipartisan majorities in both the Senate and the House 
     of Representatives opposed the JCPOA and the sanctions relief 
     for Iran contained in the agreement;
       Whereas the sanctions relief contained in the JCPOA 
     provided resources necessary for Iran to continue developing 
     ballistic missiles and supporting terrorism;
       Whereas the United States Government has designated Iran's 
     Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (in this preamble referred 
     to as the ``IRGC'') as a foreign terrorist organization under 
     section 219(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 
     U.S.C. 1189(a)) and a specially designated global terrorist 
     entity pursuant to Executive Order 13224 (50 U.S.C. 1701 
     note; relating to blocking property and prohibiting 
     transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or 
     support terrorism);
       Whereas, by a vote of 98-2 in the Senate and 419-3 in the 
     House of Representatives, Congress required the imposition of 
     terrorism-related sanctions against the IRGC as part of the 
     Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (22 
     U.S.C. 9401 et seq.);
       Whereas, on May 21, 2018, the United States Government 
     outlined steps that the Government of Iran must take to 
     normalize relations with the United States, including--
       (1) providing the International Atomic Energy Agency a full 
     account of the possible military dimensions of its nuclear 
     program and permanently and verifiably abandoning that 
     program;
       (2) ceasing all enrichment and vowing never to pursue 
     plutonium reprocessing;
       (3) providing the International Atomic Energy Agency with 
     access to all sites throughout the entire country;
       (4) ending its development and proliferation of ballistic 
     missiles;
       (5) releasing all United States citizens currently held 
     hostage, as well as citizens of countries that are partners 
     and allies of the United States;
       (6) ending support for terrorist groups, including 
     Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad;

[[Page S866]]

       (7) respecting the sovereignty of Iraq by demobilizing 
     Iranian-controlled Shia militias in the country;
       (8) ending its military support for the Houthi militia in 
     Yemen;
       (9) withdrawing all forces under Iranian command in Syria;
       (10) ending support for the Taliban in Afghanistan and for 
     senior al Qaeda leaders around the region;
       (11) ending the IRGC's support for terrorists and militant 
     partners around the world; and
       (12) halting its threatening behavior against its 
     neighbors;
       Whereas President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of 
     the United States from the JCPOA on May 8, 2018, and 
     gradually reimposed sanctions that were suspended by the 
     Obama administration under the JCPOA, depriving the regime of 
     valuable funds that the regime could have used to support its 
     malign activities;
       Whereas the JCPOA defined the sanctions that the Obama 
     administration suspended under the JCPOA as ``nuclear-
     related'', but ``nuclear-related'' is not a term recognized 
     under existing United States statutory sanctions related to 
     Iran;
       Whereas the Obama administration agreed to define the most 
     significant bilateral sanctions imposed by the United States 
     on Iran as ``nuclear-related'', waive the application of 
     those sanctions under the JCPOA, and commit the executive 
     branch to work to repeal the provisions of law providing for 
     those sanctions upon the expiration of the JCPOA;
       Whereas, pursuant to the terms of the JCPOA, sanctions were 
     lifted on Iranian financial institutions, cargo vessels, 
     aircraft, fraudulent charities, and other entities that were 
     not linked to Iran's nuclear program, but were sanctioned for 
     illicit conduct;
       Whereas, pursuant to section 401(a) of the Comprehensive 
     Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 
     (22 U.S.C. 8551(a)), in order to terminate sanctions against 
     the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian financial 
     institutions, the President is required to certify that ``the 
     Government of Iran. . .no longer satisfies the requirements 
     for designation as a state sponsor of terrorism'', and that 
     ``Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and development 
     of, and verifiably dismantled its, nuclear, biological, and 
     chemical weapons and ballistic missiles and ballistic missile 
     launch technology'';
       Whereas, on March 12, 2020, President Trump extended the 
     national emergency declared by Executive Order 12957 (50 
     U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to prohibiting certain 
     transactions with respect to the development of Iranian 
     petroleum resources) following a determination that Iran's 
     malign activities pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to 
     the United States;
       Whereas the Department of the Treasury has determined that 
     the IRGC and its affiliated entities have a dominant presence 
     in Iran's commercial and financial sectors and maintain 
     extensive economic interests in the defense, construction, 
     aviation, oil, banking, metal, automobile, and mining 
     industries;
       Whereas, on October 8, 2020, the Secretary of the Treasury 
     designated the financial sector of Iran for the imposition of 
     sanctions, authorizing sanctions with respect to persons 
     operating in Iran's construction, mining, manufacturing, and 
     textile sectors, to deny the Government of Iran financial 
     resources that may be used to fund and support its malign 
     activities;
       Whereas the United States Government has sanctioned Iranian 
     entities for their support to, or association with, Iran's 
     terrorism campaigns, ballistic missile program, or the 
     Supreme Leader of Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran, 
     the National Development Fund of Iran, elements of the IRGC, 
     Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and entities in Iran's banking, 
     petroleum, and industrial sectors;
       Whereas, in February 2020, the Financial Action Task Force, 
     the global anti-money laundering standard-setting body, fully 
     lifted the suspension of countermeasures and called on its 
     members and urged all jurisdictions to apply effective 
     countermeasures relating to the terrorist financing risk 
     emanating from Iran and the threat that poses to the 
     international financial system;
       Whereas the United States Government, under Democratic and 
     Republican administrations, has concluded that Iran provides 
     a safe haven for al Qaeda leaders and that the al Qaeda 
     network has used Iran to establish a ``core pipeline'' 
     through which money, facilitators, and operators moved to 
     Afghanistan and Pakistan;
       Whereas the United States Government has sanctioned 
     entities in the Government of Iran for perpetrating human 
     rights abuses;
       Whereas, pursuant to section 8 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 
     1996 (Public Law 104-172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note), in order to 
     terminate sanctions imposed with respect to the energy sector 
     of Iran, the President is required to certify ``that Iran--
       ``(1) has ceased its efforts to design, develop, 
     manufacture, or acquire--
          ``(A) a nuclear explosive device or related materials 
     and technology;
          ``(B) chemical and biological weapons; and
          ``(C) ballistic missiles and ballistic missile launch 
     technology;
       ``(2) has been removed from the list of countries the 
     governments of which have been determined. . .to have 
     repeatedly provided support for acts of international 
     terrorism; and
       ``(3) poses no significant threat to United States national 
     security, interests, or allies.''; and
       Whereas the concept of ``nuclear-related'' sanctions does 
     not exist in statute, and existing statutes likely require a 
     treaty to terminate such sanctions: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) reaffirms that it is the policy of the United States 
     not to allow Iran to develop or otherwise acquire a nuclear 
     weapons capability;
       (2) resolves that the lifting or termination of sanctions 
     with respect to Iran must take place only as provided for 
     under section 401(a) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, 
     Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010 (22 U.S.C. 
     8551(a)) and section 8 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 
     (Public Law 104-172; 50 U.S.C. 1701 note);
       (3) rejects and opposes the reapplication of sanctions 
     relief, including the use of waivers, de-listing individuals 
     or entities, or the application of licenses, provided for in, 
     or incident to, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 
     including on any sectors of the Iranian economy or any 
     individuals or entities designated for the imposition of 
     sanctions under United States law for supporting terrorism, 
     missile development and proliferation, human rights abuses, 
     corruption, or Iran's other destabilizing activities;
       (4) opposes reversing the finding that identifies Iran as a 
     jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern under 
     section 5318A of title 31, United States Code;
       (5) opposes the lifting of the ``U-Turn'' prohibition, 
     which bans Iran from accessing the United States financial 
     system for the purpose of conducting dollarized transactions; 
     and
       (6) opposes the suspension or lifting of the call for 
     countermeasures by the Financial Action Task Force on the 
     Iranian financial sector until Iran fully completes its 
     action plan.

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