[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 14011-14012]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  2100
                       IN MEMORY OF ELANOR BENSON

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Schweikert) is 
recognized as the designee of the majority leader for half of the time 
remaining before 10 p.m., approximately 30 minutes.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. 
Carter), my good friend.


                         Iran Nuclear Agreement

  Mr. CARTER of Texas. I thank my friend from Arizona for recognizing 
me.
  Mr. Speaker, we have been having a really great conversation here, 
and I

[[Page 14012]]

hope that everyone who has the responsibility of casting a vote on this 
so-called deal that the President has brought us has been listening 
very closely.
  Mr. Speaker, the President wants Congress to approve what I would 
call an absurd deal that eases the path for an avowed enemy of the 
United States of America's and our allies to unleash a nightmare on the 
world.
  I want us to take a look--and I ask the supporters of this deal to 
take a look--at what Iran has done to merit our trust.
  We first saw these guys way back in the Carter administration when 
they stormed our American Embassy and took our people hostage and held 
those people for, I believe it was, 42 days. They abused them in every 
way they could think of. Quite honestly, they finally released them 
after pressure was placed on them. Since that time, I cannot think of a 
single instance where dealing with Iran has been a positive thing. In 
fact, let's look at the public face they put on.
  They still chant ``death to America.'' I heard them chant ``death to 
America'' last night on television and ``death to Israel,'' one of our 
allies. They still support terror groups, and we just heard from the 
chairman of the committee of all of the terror groups that they will be 
able to support after this deal is done. They are still governed by 
cabal fanatics who are hellbent on spreading their perverted view of 
their faith.
  Now, is this a nation we should choose to strike a deal with--to make 
a nuclear deal?
  To those people who say they support this, I would like you to make 
sure you have confidence in the people we are making a deal with. I 
don't know what the rest of the world calls a deal, but, generally, 
when you are making a deal, both sides have some kind of benefit. I can 
see all kinds of things that we are giving to these folks, to Iran, 
including a big bucketful of money--billions of dollars. Basically, we 
have given them everything that they desired as far as going forward. 
Our inspections are questionable.
  My question is: What is the United States of America getting out of 
this deal?
  We are getting a promise from a regime that has a long history--
almost 50 years--of lying whenever it serves their purpose. We are 
taking their word that they are going to do certain things, and we are 
getting nothing else from this bill but their word.
  Think about the cost if this is not the right deal. Those of you who 
are really thinking about America, think about the cost. To make a 
mistake on this vote is, quite honestly, catastrophic. Then there is 
the horror that would come to pass if they actually were to detonate a 
nuclear device if, for some reason, our failure to do the right thing 
caused them to get on the fast track to get their hands on it. The 
blood will be on the hands of those who didn't take the time to decide: 
Are these trustworthy people for us to be dealing with? I would argue, 
they have no track record by which to argue that they are trustworthy.
  Tomorrow's vote is probably as important a vote as anyone in this 
Chamber will ever take because it is a vote that could unleash nuclear 
war in the Middle East as a result of our failure to cut a real deal. I 
urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to think about this--to 
stand with America, to stand with Israel, to stand with those who 
oppose state sponsors of terrorism, and to oppose President Obama's 
irresponsible and dangerous Iran agreement.
  Mr. SCHWEIKERT. I thank Judge Carter.
  Mr. Speaker, this is something I, actually, have never done; but have 
you ever had one of those moments in your life when you want to come to 
the microphone and share it with whomever is willing to listen?
  This has been a tough few days here. Many of us, as we come to these 
microphones, have these heavy hearts because we are fearful that what 
is going on around us may be one of those momentous moments where we 
remember this for the rest of our lives, where it is one of those 
votes--one of those debates--where you affect the world. There is 
another side to this on a personal basis where you realize how 
incredibly honored, lucky, blessed you are to get to be behind this 
microphone.
  Last week, a woman from my community passed away. We all in our lives 
have those handfuls of people who actually make a difference and affect 
our lives. She is partially responsible for my being behind this 
microphone.
  A woman named Elanor Benson, from Fountain Hills, died last week--I 
believe at age 95--and she changed my life. I was a 20-, 21-, maybe 22-
year-old kid. I was selling real estate in our little town as a way to 
finance my way through Arizona State University at night. She, in her 
retirement at that age, decided to take on another job at our little 
office.
  She sat me down, and she knew I had an interest in conservative 
politics. I still to this day remember her looking at me and saying: 
``David, I like you. You are going to be the next president of the 
local Republican club.'' I tried to explain to her there was no way I 
would have time for such a thing, and she looked at me and said: 
``Don't worry. I will help.''
  This is a woman who moved to our little community on the side of 
Scottsdale, I believe, in the late seventies, and had such an impact. 
For years, I used to believe maybe a third of the town--half the town--
had become involved in politics, mostly Republican politics, because of 
her passion, her energy. You could not stop her.
  She got me to be president of the local club and stood by me when I 
did dumb things and applauded me when I did good things and scolded me 
when I didn't say the right things and walked me through how to be more 
sensitive instead of being so caffeinated, which is a family problem.
  I realized, in the chaos of doing this job, that I failed to tell her 
how much I loved her and how much she affected my life, because I don't 
believe I would be here today if it weren't for Elanor Benson, who not 
only changed my life but who, actually, I believe--with her work at the 
Fountain Hill Chamber of Commerce, her work for so many causes, her 
work for her church--made my community a much, much better place. We 
are all better in our part of Arizona because of her life. It was a 
life well lived. It was a long life. She was beautiful to the day she 
passed, and I wish I had let her know how much we cared.
  So, Elanor, if you are out there, thank you. Thank you for changing 
my life. Thank you for making my community a better one.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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