[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3419-3421]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  IRAN

  Mr. COONS. Mr. President, last week the Iranian Revolutionary Guard 
Corps, or IRGC--the hard-line military force that answers only to 
Iran's Supreme Leader and is committed to the preservation of Iran's 
revolutionary regime--launched a number of ballistic missiles, in clear 
violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. These 
missile launches are profoundly disturbing and suggest a regime that is 
content on continuing to destabilize the region and threaten our vital 
allies and its neighbors. They don't technically violate the terms of 
last summer's nuclear agreement, but they do serve as a vital reminder 
that Iran remains a revolutionary regime that does not respect world 
opinion and does not share our values or interests.
  America and our allies must seek every opportunity to push back on 
Iran's aggressive behavior--especially behavior such as this that is 
outside the parameters of the nuclear deal--by enforcing existing 
sanctions on Iran's illegal ballistic missile tests, its ongoing human 
rights abuses, and its support for terrorism across the Middle East and 
the world.
  Another critical way the international community can demonstrate we 
are serious about holding Iran accountable is by aggressively enforcing 
the terms of the nuclear deal. Today I will discuss a key element of 
enforcing that deal: fully funding the International Atomic Energy 
Agency, IAEA, the world's nuclear watchdog, which is responsible for 
monitoring Iran's compliance with the deal. The case for providing 
robust, sustainable funding for the IAEA is further strengthened by a 
second topic I will discuss, which is Iran's continued human rights 
abuses.
  Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal so far does not mean that its 
government intends to embrace the international community or heed the 
call of the Iranian people for greater democracy. In fact, I believe 
the actions of the IRGC and Iran's hard-line conservative leaders 
indicate that the Iranian regime intends to continue to repress 
dissent, block democratic reforms, incite anti-Semitism, and violate 
basic human rights.
  Mr. President, in a speech to the United Nations in December of 1953, 
President Eisenhower proclaimed American support for a new 
international organization tasked with putting nuclear technology 
``into the hands of those who will know how to strip its military 
casing and adapt it to the arts of peace.''
  Since its founding in 1957, the IAEA has undertaken a broad array of 
responsibilities--from promoting international nonproliferation efforts 
to supporting peaceful nuclear power--but none more vital than 
maintaining its safeguards program, which provides credible assurances 
that countries are honoring their international obligations to use 
nuclear technology and material only for peaceful purposes.
  The IAEA could not do its job without the ongoing full support of the 
United States. The United States develops the inspections technology on 
which the IAEA depends. We train and support the IAEA inspectors, 
scientists, and staff, particularly through our system of National 
Laboratories. Since 1980, every single IAEA inspector has been trained 
at least once at the Los Alamos National Lab in New Mexico. At any 
given time, roughly 20 percent of all the inspectors who work for the 
IAEA are undergoing training or retraining at the vital National Labs 
of the United States.
  The commitment made by American scientists and taxpayers to the IAEA 
is even more important now in light of the agreement reached by world 
powers last summer to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. 
This agreement, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, 
or JCPOA, gives the IAEA unprecedented access to monitor Iran's nuclear 
efforts through highly intrusive physical inspections and 24-7 remote 
monitoring technology. Unlike previous nuclear agreements, the JCPOA 
requires Iran to allow the IAEA to monitor Iran's entire nuclear fuel 
cycle, which includes all the steps required to go from mining and 
milling raw uranium to producing centrifuges that enrich uranium, to 
the actual enrichment sites.
  The IAEA's regular inspections and continuous monitoring and 
oversight mean that the international community will know if Iran tries 
to cheat on the terms of the JCPOA before it can dash to a nuclear 
weapon or build a bomb in secret. But access alone is not enough. The 
IAEA must have the resources to actually inspect, monitor, and verify 
Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal by confirming that Iran's 
nuclear declarations are accurate and comprehensive, by monitoring 
their declared sites to ensure Iran's behavior actually complies with 
the terms of the JCPOA, and by tracking all nuclear-related material 
leaving every facility to make sure Iran doesn't divert and pursue 
illicit nuclear activities elsewhere in their country.
  Given Iran's long record of cheating and of pursuing nuclear weapons 
illicitly over the decades past, investing resources in ensuring that 
the IAEA can take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity is a wise 
investment not just for the American people but for the world. To 
fulfill these responsibilities in addition to its regular and ongoing 
mission of ensuring nonproliferation in every other country in the 
world, the IAEA must have the resources to turn access into oversight.
  Back in January, I traveled with seven other Senators to the IAEA's 
headquarters in Vienna, Austria, and there we heard directly from 
Director General Yukiya Amano about the challenges the agency faces in 
fulfilling its new responsibilities under the JCPOA. At the top of that 
list of challenges is securing a reliable, long-term source of funding. 
A recent report by our own nonpartisan Government Accountability Office 
here in the United States echos those very same concerns, stating that 
``the IAEA faces potential budgetary and human resource management 
challenges stemming from the JCPOA-related workload.''
  Effectively enforcing the terms of the JCPOA will require more than 
just additional inspectors, while inspectors are vital; the IAEA will 
also be required to train a new generation of nuclear scientists and to 
continue to develop more and more innovative nuclear detection and 
monitoring technologies as well--an undertaking as complex as it is 
important. That is why I urge Congress to increase America's voluntary 
contribution to the IAEA to a level at least $10.6 million above the 
President's fiscal year 2017 request and commit to a sustained and 
long-term investment so that we can be confident that the IAEA has the 
resources to recruit, to train, and to place the very best inspectors 
the world can produce. The increase of $10.6 million that I am urging 
will provide reliable funding for the IAEA--the funding they need to 
monitor the Iran nuclear program while continuing to work for safe, 
secure, and peaceful use of nuclear technology throughout the rest of 
the world.
  An additional $10 million would not crowd out contributions from 
other states. American representatives at the U.N. offices in Vienna 
could direct extra funding to specific projects or withhold it from 
others, allowing us to address unanticipated needs by the IAEA without 
discouraging other donors from fulfilling their obligations as they 
should.

[[Page 3420]]

  We also need to continue to insist on full transparency so that 
reports received by the IAEA, things they might learn, are shared with 
the United States--with our intelligence community, with our lawmakers, 
with our executive branch--and to ensure, frankly, that we know if 
there are additional classified or secret agreements, side agreements 
between the IAEA and Iran.
  Look, whether my colleagues supported the JCPOA or opposed it, surely 
we can agree that it is in America's interest to see the IAEA succeed 
in monitoring Iran's behavior and attracting the best and brightest 
young scientists from around the world for years to come. As Brent 
Scowcroft--who served ably as National Security Advisor to both 
President Gerald Ford and later President George H.W. Bush--wrote in an 
August 21 Washington Post op-ed, Congress ``should ensure that the 
International Atomic Energy Agency and other relevant bodies and U.S. 
intelligence agencies have all the resources necessary to facilitate 
inspection and monitor compliance'' with the nuclear deal with Iran.
  To fully and sustainably fund the IAEA is to make a sound investment 
in a highly technical organization that directly contributes to 
international peace and our security. But why exactly is it so 
important that we fund the IAEA, enforce the JCPOA, and push back on 
Iran at every opportunity? A brief review of Iran's dismal human rights 
record might reenforce why it is crystal clear that this is a priority 
for our Nation and must remain so.
  Iran's Government continues to preach anti-Semitism, to incite hatred 
against Israel, and to call for the destruction of the Jewish State of 
Israel, and it uses state-run media to blame the Jewish people for the 
instability and violence that currently dominates the Middle East. Just 
last week, one of the ballistic missiles Iran illegally launched 
supposedly had a message printed on the side in Hebrew saying, ``Israel 
must be wiped off the earth.''
  In January, as the international community marked Holocaust 
Remembrance Day, Iran's Supreme Leader published a video on his 
official Web site in which the narrator condemns the world for 
supporting Israel and questions the legitimacy and magnitude of the 
Holocaust. These statements should deeply concern and outrage the world 
community, but they are simply another reflection of the Iranian 
regime's longstanding disregard for international values and human 
rights.
  Earlier this month, the United Nations issued a report showing that 
the number of people executed by the Iranian Government skyrocketed to 
nearly 1,000 last year--twice as many as in 2010 and 10 times as many 
as in 2005. Most of these executions were allegedly for drug-related 
offenses. According to some reports, last year one village in Iran saw 
every single adult male--every single one in the entire village--
executed for so-called drug crimes.
  These alarming statistics follow a January report from Amnesty 
International that documented Iran's execution of over 70 juveniles in 
the decade from 2005 to 2015, with another 160 young juvenile offenders 
still on death row. No country in the world uses capital punishment for 
minors more than Iran. And despite Iran's ratification of an 
international treaty banning capital punishment for minors, Iranian law 
still allows the death penalty for girls as young as 9 and boys as 
young as 15.
  In addition, Iran's unelected Guardian Council suppressed democracy 
in its most recent elections, preventing the vast majority of either 
female or reform-minded candidates from even appearing on ballots.
  Iran has illegally and inappropriately detained American citizens, 
including retired FBI agent Robert Levinson and Iranian American energy 
executive Siamak Namazi--both of whom we believe remain detained in 
Iran. The Committee to Protect Journalists estimates that at least 19 
reporters are today still being held unjustly by the Iranian 
Government.
  These are just a few examples among countless many of Iran's 
unwillingness to respect even the most basic norms of international 
human rights. Effectively pushing back on these egregious human rights 
abuses and enforcing the JCPOA demands international collaboration, but 
increasing our voluntary contribution to the IAEA makes a direct impact 
without requiring approval or action by any other country.
  There are two other additional unilateral steps this Congress can 
take today.
  First, we could increase Federal investment in our National 
Laboratories, which train the IAEA inspectors I spoke about, develop 
technologies that nuclear inspectors depend on, and undertake research 
that improves the lives of people around the world.
  Second, and more promptly, the Senate could and should confirm Laura 
Holgate, a nonproliferation expert who was nominated more than 5 months 
ago to serve as America's Ambassador to the U.N. agencies of Vienna, 
which includes the IAEA. After months of delays for purely political 
reasons, her nomination was finally approved by the Foreign Relations 
Committee on January 28. The full Senate should not delay any further 
to ensure that our government is represented at the very organization 
the world relies upon to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.
  Later this month, the President will convene heads of state from 
around the world for a fourth Nuclear Security Summit, a conference 
dedicated to preventing nuclear terrorism and securing stockpiles of 
nuclear material from around the world. The IAEA is at the very 
forefront of this vital mission, and we need to work together to make 
sure it has the tools it needs to take on these serious tasks.
  These goals demand involvement from every actor on the international 
stage, but by increasing America's voluntary contribution to the IAEA 
by an additional $10 million, Congress can send a strong signal that we 
intend to hold Iran to the terms of the JCPOA, to support the 
international cause of nonproliferation, and to provide a vital 
incentive for our international partners to dedicate more of their 
resources to this important agency.
  Iran remains today a revolutionary regime fundamentally opposed to 
America's values and interests. Iran's ballistic missile tests just 
last week serve as another reminder that the Iranian Government is 
neither America's friend nor ally. We must be relentless in our efforts 
to push back on these missile tests, on Iran's destabilizing support 
for terrorism, and on its human rights abuses. We must continue to 
enforce the existing sanctions in American law and be willing to 
consider imposing new ones when Iran's behavior warrants it.
  Let me be clear about one thing in closing. The Persian culture, the 
culture of the people of Iran, is one of great richness and complexity. 
I have had the blessing of knowing many Persian Americans in my life 
and have known them to be people of great intellect and inventiveness 
and capability and to be the products of an ancient and respectable 
culture. We in the United States do not wish the people of Iran ill, 
but the Iranian regime and those who support it deserve international 
condemnation for a decades-long pattern of human rights abuses, support 
for terrorism, and other bad behavior. But we can and should make a 
distinction between the Iranian regime and the Persian people.
  The people of Iran--those who turn out at polls to vote even in 
elections that are neither free nor fair and who have repeatedly 
demonstrated in the streets for democracy and engagement, risking life 
and limb to do so in the decade past--must know that the American 
people support the struggle of those who hope for real democracy 
someday in Iran and those who hope for an Iranian regime that someday 
respects international values and human rights.
  So today, just a few days before Monday's Iranian New Year of Nowruz, 
we wish the people of Iran a happy, healthy, and peaceful new year, 
while continuing to stand firm against the values and actions of the 
Iranian regime.
  Thank you.

[[Page 3421]]

  With that, I yield the floor.
  Mr. COONS. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Ernst). The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HATCH. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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