[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 4]
[Senate]
[Pages 5610-5611]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT REVIEW ACT

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I express my appreciation publicly--I have 
done so privately--for the good work done by Senator Corker and Senator 
Cardin, the chairman and ranking member of the Foreign Relations 
Committee. They have done remarkably good work and exemplary work for 
us. Getting consensus on anything in the Senate is very hard. In spite 
of the monumental task they faced, the chair and ranking member of the 
Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Corker and Senator Cardin, were 
able to do just that with their Iran legislation. These two good 
Senators have worked

[[Page 5611]]

very hard to find a middle ground that satisfies both Congress and the 
administration. I think they have done that.
  The Corker-Cardin bill allows Congress to vote on a final agreement. 
It also provides for immediate reinstitution of the sanctions should 
Iran breach the terms of the agreement. After weeks of bipartisan 
negotiations, the Foreign Relations Committee reported the Corker-
Cardin legislation with a unanimous 19-to-0 vote.
  I, along with many of my Senate Democratic colleagues, support this 
legislation. In fact, I think all Democrats would support this 
legislation. Senators Corker and Cardin worked very hard to strike a 
very delicate balance. Now we must protect that delicate balance by 
working together to avoid major changes that could imperil the success 
of the bill.
  I hope we can move forward with the same spirit of bipartisanship 
that got us here and bring the bill to a vote as quickly as possible. 
However, a number of my Republican colleagues stated publicly, in their 
efforts to be the Republican nominee for President, what they want to 
do with this bill. I am concerned that they and others want to use this 
good, bipartisan piece of legislation as a platform for their political 
ambitions. This bill is too important to be a pawn in anyone's 
political game. I have told Senator Corker and Senator Cardin that I 
will support their efforts to preserve their work.
  As we move forward, I am hoping we can all work together in the 
bipartisan spirit in which this bill was crafted and keep our eyes on 
the ultimate goal of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
  Having said that, I am very concerned about some statements made by 
my friend, the vote counter for the Senate Republicans, the senior 
Senator from Texas. He said in Politico--I am not going to state his 
full quote but basically enough to get the idea:

       Some of 'em might pass. I think it's going to be an 
     interesting dance. . . . There are some that are interesting, 
     that will be hard to vote against.

  This is a bill which was brought to the Senate floor on a bipartisan 
basis. We should continue on that basis. It shouldn't be up to 
Democrats to kill these vexatious amendments; we should get some help 
from our Republican colleagues.
  I look forward to this debate. It is important for the country. It is 
important for the world. I am grateful for the work done by those two 
good Senators. I just hope it is not maligned, messed up, and 
denigrated as a result of political posturing.

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