[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Page 10999]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAN

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to join my colleagues to express 
a deep concern about the ongoing negotiations with Iran over the 
country's nuclear capabilities.
  As many of my colleagues have noted on the floor of this House, 
preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is critical to securing 
peace in the region and protecting U.S. interests, including our close 
ally Israel.
  It was good to hear Secretary Kerry's recent commitment not ``to 
shave anywhere at the margins in order to just get an agreement'' and 
to work for an agreement that will pass scrutiny. However, media 
reports from the negotiations in Vienna indicate that Iran has tried to 
renegotiate the previously released framework and continues to demand 
further concessions from international negotiators.
  Among the latest demands from Tehran is that all United Nations 
sanctions against the country, including the ban on the import or 
export of conventional arms, be lifted as part of any deal.
  Well, I have a response to that demand: unacceptable. Lifting the 
arms embargo would serve only to further destabilize the Middle East 
and accelerate Iran's arming of Shiite militias.
  The Iranians have also sought to keep hidden Iran's current and 
previous efforts to gain nuclear weapons capability. How can the 
international community know with certainty that Iran is complying with 
an agreement to reduce significantly its enrichment activities if the 
full extent of these activities is kept secret?
  It defies logic that such a request should be made and makes far less 
sense for such a request to be given any serious consideration.
  Likewise, demands to limit IAEA inspectors to select sites, to 
install absurd bureaucratic processes to access additional sites, and 
to prohibit altogether inspections of so-called military sites should 
be fully rejected.
  Ultimately, it is critical that any deal prevents Iran from gaining 
nuclear weapons capabilities and ensures that international inspectors 
can validate their adherence to an agreement's negotiated terms. If 
Iran cannot negotiate in good faith, then perhaps it is time to leave 
the negotiating table altogether.

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