Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act

Floor Speech

Mr. FLAKE. Madam President, I come to the floor today to talk about
S. 615, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. This bill establishes a
process to guarantee congressional review of any agreement reached
between the P5+1 and Iran.

Like everybody else here, my goal is to ensure that Iran does not
acquire nuclear weapons. With that goal in mind, I have avoided
supporting measures over the past 18 months that would impact the
administration's ongoing negotiations. I believe it is incumbent upon
us to explore every avenue of diplomacy to stop Iran from getting a
nuclear weapon.

There have been suggestions that this legislation we are considering
today will negatively impact the negotiations for a final agreement. To
the contrary, I think this legislation will improve the chances of
reaching a final accord. Most importantly, it will improve the chances
that this accord will stand the test of time.

If approved, the President will have to negotiate knowing that
Congress will ultimately review this agreement. That is only proper
given that the terms of the agreement go far beyond--far beyond--the
current administration.

In truth, Congress has always had a role here. It was the U.S.
Congress that passed the sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating
table. It is only the U.S. Congress that can permanently lift the
sanctions. Unfortunately, the administration would prefer to go it
alone when it comes to the implementation of this agreement by using
the waiver authority that was granted when these sanctions were passed.

There is no dispute that the President can lift these sanctions on a
temporary basis. But since this agreement is slated to last well beyond
the President's term and even the next President's term, any effective,
enduring agreement has to have congressional buy-in. Let me repeat. If
this legislation fails, the President will be able to sign a final
agreement and have a nice signing ceremony, but an effective, enduring
agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon will require
congressional buy-in.

We also need to recognize that we are not operating in a vacuum. Once
an agreement that includes our allies is reached, the multilateral
sanctions regime that has been so effective in bringing Iran to the
negotiating table will be defunct. These sanctions have been effective
because it has been Iran versus the West rather than Iran versus the
United States. It is unreasonable to assume that such a united front
can be reassembled before Iran obtains a nuclear weapon.

That is why the bill before us today is so important. It sets up a
process for review by Congress of any agreement, preventing the
administration from presenting Congress with a fait accompli. This
legislation will not repeal any sanctions currently in place against
Iran. Congress will still have to take action to lift these sanctions
permanently. Its passage ensures that if Congress does repeal the
sanctions, it does so because it chooses to, not because it has no
other choice.

I would also like to take a moment to reflect on the process that
brought this bill out of committee. Tough issues were thoughtfully
worked out and compromises were made to get this bill language to a
place where the bill was voted unanimously out of committee with a
recorded vote. Thanks to firm commitments made by the chairman and the
ranking member to keep this bill bipartisan, the White House--which for
weeks had threatened to veto the bill--reversed its position just hours
before the markup. This about-face was likely due to the fact that
there were so many Senators on a bipartisan basis lining up to support
this bill.

This legislation signals to the administration that it needs to keep
Congress in mind when it negotiates. And, without poison pill
amendments being added, the President will be forced to sign it.

Most importantly, I am hopeful that the passage of this bill out of
committee signifies a return to a time the Foreign Relations Committee
is able to work across the aisle on foreign policy matters. I realize
it cannot always happen, but the ideal is when partisan politics can--
as Senator Vandenberg put it--stop at the water's edge.

The reality is that given the myriad of foreign policy challenges
that confront us around the globe, we do not have the luxury of
partisanship, and nowhere is this more evident than with the
legislation we are considering today. I hope we can come together and
pass it.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

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