[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11615-11616]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. McClintock) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. McCLINTOCK. Mr. Speaker, I don't know how adequately to express 
my alarm and outrage over the President's agreement with Iran. It is a 
breathtakingly dangerous act. Some have compared it to Neville 
Chamberlain's Munich accord with Nazi Germany, but that does not fully 
illustrate the danger. In this case, we are talking about a rogue state 
with all of Nazi Germany's genocidal intentions, but this one will be 
armed with nuclear weapons.
  In its preamble, the agreement asserts that Iran will comply with the 
nuclear nonproliferation treaty that it signed long ago. Well, wait a 
second. If it had obeyed this treaty, we wouldn't be having this 
discussion to begin with now, would we?
  The fact is that Iran has a well-established and consistent record of 
routinely violating international law. Its intention to acquire nuclear 
weapons is obvious.
  The immediate effect of the President's action is to release hundreds 
of billions of dollars of direct and indirect resources to Iran with 
which its government can pursue its military and terrorist activities, 
activities that aren't even addressed in this agreement. It is sobering 
to consider that Iran's extensive terrorist operations, which 
reportedly now reach into South America, are about to get a huge 
infusion of cash.
  But lifting the sanctions does far more damage than merely releasing 
resources to this outlaw regime with which to kill Israelis and 
Americans, as its leader vowed to do just last week. The sanctions were 
having a major impact on destabilizing the regime according to all of 
the Iranian expatriates I have talked with. Relieving those sanctions 
undermines what had been a rapidly building uprise against the regime 
from within.
  Over the last several years, the Iranian opposition had grown 
dramatically for two reasons: there was a strong and growing perception 
among the Iranian people that the Iranian dictatorship was a pariah in 
the international community, and that the resulting international 
economic sanctions had created conditions that make the regime's 
overthrow imperative--that is, until Barack Obama blundered onto the 
scene.
  This agreement cannot be verified. We are now learning that the 24/7 
access to inspections promised by the President does not exist. Under 
this agreement, the regime can stall any inspection for many weeks or 
even months.
  The President's promise that violations will result in a snapback of 
sanctions is also completely empty. Restoring sanctions would require 
the assent of China and Russia, something much less likely, given our 
rapidly deteriorating relations with them.
  And even if Iran scrupulously abided by every detail of the 
agreement, they can continue to run centrifuges for low-level 
enrichment, continue their research and development of advanced 
centrifuges, continue their heavy water research, and within 8 years 
acquire intercontinental ballistic missiles. That means, even under 
this agreement, within a decade, Iran will have a nuclear breakout 
capability and the launch vehicles necessary to deliver those weapons 
anywhere in the world with the solemn vow of its government to wipe 
Israel and the United States off the map.
  Indeed, just last week, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff 
warned: ``Under no circumstances should we relieve pressure on Iran 
relative to ballistic missile capabilities and arms trafficking.'' Yet 
a week later, that is exactly what this agreement does.
  The President says there is no alternative. Well, this is utter 
nonsense. The sanctions were working. The domestic resistance to this 
Islamic-fascist dictatorship mustered over 100,000 Iranian expatriates 
at its annual meeting in Paris last month. This movement desperately 
needs the moral and material support of our Nation to bring down this 
regime from within. That is precisely what this administration has 
denied them.

[[Page 11616]]

  Last month, I fear the Congress became complicit in this agreement by 
adopting a completely extraconstitutional process for ratification that 
I believe was a sham. Instead of two-thirds vote of the Senate to 
approve treaties, it requires an almost impossible two-thirds vote of 
both Houses to reject it as an agreement. But at this moment in time, 
nothing is more important to the world than for two-thirds of this 
Congress to repudiate this dangerous falling.
  Despite all of the indignities, retreats, and self-inflicted wounds 
our country has endured these past 6\1/2\ years, the freedom-loving 
people of the world still look to us for leadership and support. We are 
still what Lincoln called the last best hope of mankind. It is 
imperative that Congress now rise to the occasion.

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