[House Report 117-479]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


117th Congress    }                                     {      Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 2d Session       }                                     {     117-479

======================================================================


 
REQUESTING THE PRESIDENT TO TRANSMIT CERTAIN DOCUMENTS TO THE HOUSE OF 
 REPRESENTATIVES RELATING TO ANY INITIATIVE OR NEGOTIATIONS REGARDING 
                         IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM

                                _______
                                

 September 20, 2022.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

    Mr. Meeks, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                             ADVERSE REPORT

                             together with

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

                      [To accompany H. Res. 1266]

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to whom was referred the 
resolution (H. Res. 1266) requesting the President to transmit 
certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to 
any initiative or negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear 
program, having considered the same, reports unfavorably 
thereon without amendment and recommends that the resolution 
not be agreed to.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
Summary..........................................................     1
Background.......................................................     2
Hearings.........................................................     3
Committee Consideration and Vote.................................     3
Committee Oversight Findings.....................................     4
New Budget Authority, Tax Expenditures, and Federal Mandates.....     4
Non-Duplication of Federal Programs..............................     4
Performance Goals and Objectives.................................     4
Congressional Accountability Act.................................     4
New Advisory Committees..........................................     4
Earmark Identification...........................................     4
Section-by-Section Analysis......................................     4
Dissenting Views.................................................     6

                                SUMMARY

    H. Res. 1266 would require the President of the United 
States to transmit to the House of Representatives, not later 
than 14 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, 
copies of any document, memorandum, or other communication in 
his possession, or any portion thereof, that refers or relates 
to any initiative or negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear 
program that may be required by section 135(d)(5)(B) of the 
Atomic Energy Act of 1954 (42 U.S.C. 2160e(d)(5)(B)).

                               BACKGROUND

    It is the policy of the United States to prevent the 
government of the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) from 
obtaining a nuclear weapon. The United States must be prepared 
to use all aspects of our power to achieve this goal.
    Using a resolution of inquiry to obtain information related 
to an ongoing multilateral and national security-related 
negotiation would create a harmful precedent that risks the 
Administration's ability to successfully conduct negotiations, 
threatening to upset allies and allow for the premature leaking 
and manipulation of sensitive materials. This resolution 
threatens the United States' longstanding strategic posture to 
not negotiate in public.
    Moreover, a robust process through which Congress will 
review any negotiated agreement exists. Shortly before the 
conclusion of the original JCPOA negotiations in 2015, the 
United States Congress passed, with a strong bipartisan vote, 
the current statutory framework for the transmission of the 
documents requested by H. Res. 1266 to Congress. This law, 
entitled the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (INARA), 
provides the official, bipartisan, process for reviewing the 
documents related to the JCPOA. The Biden Administration has 
committed to Congress, the American people, and our negotiation 
partners that they will abide by INARA.
    The Administration's commitment to adhere to the 
requirements set forth by INARA renders H. Res. 1266 completely 
unnecessary. INARA mandates the Administration to transmit to 
Congress all documents required in H. Res. 1266 in addition to 
an assessment of the agreement, within five calendar days, for 
review. Once such documents enter congressional possession, 
Congress is provided thirty calendar days to review the 
materials, hold hearings, receive briefings, and hold an up or 
down vote of approval or disapproval should Congress desire. 
The Administration is not authorized to implement a nuclear 
agreement with Iran while this review period is taking place. 
Should Congress disapprove the agreement over the veto of the 
President of the United States, the Administration is 
prohibited from moving forward with implementation. Both our 
allies and adversaries are aware this process is in place.
    Members of this committee have been fully briefed on the 
negotiations in classified session as the negotiations have 
progressed. Others have received unclassified updates on the 
talks upon request. The committee, in fact, received a briefing 
the morning before marking up this resolution from the White 
House, State Department and Intelligence Community.
    There may not be unanimous bipartisan support for a final 
agreement, but we are unwilling to jeopardize the talks by 
prematurely releasing these materials. We will have ample time 
to assess the deal, if finalized, under the auspices of the 
INARA statute.

                                HEARINGS

    The Committee on Foreign Affairs held no hearings on H. 
Res. 1266.

                    COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION AND VOTE

    The Committee considered H. Res. 1266 on September 14, 2022 
and September 15, 2022, and agreed to a motion to report the 
resolution adversely to the House of Representatives by a 
recorded vote (roll call 26Y-22N).
    On the vote to report H. Res. 1266 to the House adversely:

        Members voting AYE (26)
          Gregory W. Meeks, D-NY
          Brad Sherman, D-CA
          Albio Sires, D-NJ
          Gerald E. Connolly, D-VA
          Theodore E. Deutch, D-FL
          Karen Bass, D-CA
          William R. Keating, D-MA
          David N. Cicilline, D-RI
          Ami Bera, D-CA
          Joaquin Castro, D-TX
          Dina Titus, D-NV
          Ted Lieu, D-CA
          Susan Wild, D-PA
          Dean Phillips, D-MN
          Ilhan Omar, D-MN
          Colin Allred, D-TX
          Andy Levin, D-MI
          Abigail Spanberger, D-VA
          Chrissy Houlahan, D-PA
          Tom Malinowski, D-NJ
          Andy Kim, D-NJ
          Kathy Manning, D-NC
          Jim Costa, D-CA
          Juan Vargas, D-CA
          Vicente Gonzalez, D-TX
          Brad Schneider, D-IL

        Members voting NO (22)
          Michael T. McCaul, R-TX
          Chris Smith, R-NJ
          Steve Chabot, R-OH
          Joe Wilson, R-SC
          Scott Perry, R-PA
          Darrell Issa, R-CA
          Lee Zeldin, R-NY
          Ann Wagner, R-MO
          Brian Mast, R-FL
          Brian Fitzpatrick, R-PA
          Ken Buck, R-CO
          Tim Burchett, R-TN
          Mark Green, R-FL
          Andy Barr, R-KY
          Greg Steube, R-FL
          Dan Meuser, R-PA
          Claudia Tenney, R-NY
          August Pfluger, R-TX
          Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY
          Peter Meijer, R-MI
          Ronny Jackson, R-TX
          Young Kim, R-CA

                      COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS

    In compliance with Clause 3(c)(1) of rule XIII of the rules 
of the House of Representatives, the Committee reports that the 
findings and recommendations of the Committee, based on 
oversight activities under Clause 2(b)(1) of rule X of the 
House of Representatives, are incorporated in the descriptive 
portions of this report, particularly in the ``Background'' 
section.

      NEW BUDGET AUTHORITY, TAX EXPENDITURES, AND FEDERAL MANDATES

    In compliance with clause 3(c)(2) of House rule XIII and 
the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (P.L. 104-4) are inapplicable 
because H. Res. 1266 neither provides new budget authority nor 
increase tax expenditures.

                  NON-DUPLICATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS

    Pursuant to clause 3(c)(5) of House rule XIII, the 
committee states that no provision of this bill establishes or 
reauthorizes a program of the Federal Government known to be 
duplicative of another Federal program, a program that was 
included in any report from the Government Accountability 
Office to Congress pursuant to section 21 of Public Law 111-
139, or a program related to a program identified in the most 
recent Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

                    PERFORMANCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

    The rule requiring a statement of performance goals and 
objectives is inapplicable to this resolution.

                    CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY ACT

    H. Res. 1266 does not apply to terms and conditions of 
employment or to access to public services or accommodations 
within the legislative branch.

                        NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEES

    H. Res. 1266 does not establish or authorize any new 
advisory committees.

                         EARMARK IDENTIFICATION

    H. Res. 1266 contains no congressional earmarks, limited 
tax benefits, or limited tariff benefits as described in 
clauses 9(e), 9(f), and 9(g) of House rule XXI.

                      SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS

    H. Res. 1266, if adopted, would require the President to 
transmit to the House of Representatives, not later than 14 
days after the date of its adoption, copies of any document, 
memorandum, or other communication in his possession, or any 
portion thereof, that refers or relates to any initiative or 
negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program that may be 
required by section 135(d)(5)(B) of the Atomic Energy Act of 
1954 (42 U.S.C. 2160e(d)(5)(B)).

                            DISSENTING VIEWS

    While Iran tries to kill Americans--both abroad and even on 
U.S. soil--and provides direct support to Russia's unjustified 
war of aggression against Ukraine, the Biden administration is 
chasing a nuclear deal with Iran that would hand the world's 
largest state sponsor of terrorism vast amounts of cash, with 
no control over how it will be spent.
    This resolution of inquiry is necessary to ensure that 
Congress receives a clear, unfiltered view of the terms of any 
agreement, and a genuine understanding of Iran's actual nuclear 
program. Given the immense stakes, we must be given the means 
to carry out basic oversight, to ensure that the terms of any 
agreement with Iran actually promote the national security of 
the United States.
    The unfortunate decision by our Democrat colleagues to 
reject the Committee's rights to this information is in 
conflict with their own demands (via resolution of inquiry) for 
even more highly privileged information from the prior 
administration.
    When negotiating with adversaries, it is sometimes said to 
``trust but verify.'' With Iran we can do neither.
    Over the past year and a half, Iran has continued to expand 
its nuclear program despite diplomatic efforts aimed at 
brokering a nuclear deal. Not only has Iran continued to enrich 
uranium at levels far in excess of the limits set under the 
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), it has also 
installed hundreds of advanced IR-6 centrifuges and dismantled 
key aspects of the oversight architecture established under the 
original agreement. We cannot trust Iran to comply with the 
terms of a new agreement when they are actively violating the 
old one, to which they remain a party.
    At best, the rumored deal merely delays Iran's advance 
toward a nuclear weapon to 2030. It does nothing to stop it. By 
continuing to expand its nuclear program over the past year and 
a half, Iran has accumulated valuable nuclear know-how that 
will be impossible to walk back. As a result, Iran's 
``breakout'' time--the time needed to produce enough material 
for a nuclear weapon--is now estimated to be somewhere between 
four to six months. That means, even if they abide by a new 
agreement, Iran will be in a position to move quickly toward a 
nuclear weapon when all restrictions on its nuclear enrichment 
activities expire in less than a decade.
    A deal would give Iran more time and money to shore up its 
nuclear infrastructure, making it less vulnerable to attack and 
undermining the world's ability to respond to a nuclear-capable 
Iran. It would also bolster Iran's ability to support its 
terrorist proxies and expand its ballistic missile program. 
Providing this regime with billions of dollars in financial 
relief in exchange for temporary restrictions on its nuclear 
weapons development is not just irresponsible, it is dangerous.
    Furthermore, Iran continues to undermine the critical work 
of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), threatening 
global non-proliferation objectives. Iran has so far refused to 
provide technically credible answers to the IAEA investigation 
into enriched uranium found at three undisclosed Iranian sites, 
which may indicate the existence of a clandestine nuclear 
program. In June, Iran removed monitoring equipment, including 
27 cameras installed by the IAEA to assess compliance with the 
2015 agreement in real time. In its September 2022 quarterly 
report, the agency concluded that it was ``not in a position to 
provide assurance that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively 
peaceful.'' We cannot blindly commit ourselves to some new 
bargain without knowing the actual scope of Iran's nuclear 
program--knowledge that Iran has actively denied to 
international inspectors.
    In contrast to the Biden Administration's public 
commitments to keep Congress closely in the loop on their 
efforts to pursue a ``longer and stronger'' nuclear deal with 
Iran, the reality has been periodic after-action reports when 
negotiations are stalled, on what appears to be a shorter and 
weaker agreement than the Obama Administration's problematic 
JCPOA.
    Congress and this Committee have constitutional oversight 
responsibilities that are critical to protecting the security 
of the United States and the American people, especially 
against a terrorist regime pledged to our destruction. We 
require far more information than we have been given to be able 
to genuinely assess Iran's nuclear program and the risks and 
benefits of what Iran is seeking in any new nuclear deal. This 
resolution is a critical and necessary step in negotiating 
access to that information.

                                   Michael T. McCaul,
                                           Ranking Member.

                                  [all]