Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders

Floor Speech

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Mr. DOLD. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Chairman Royce for his leadership and Ranking Member Engel for his leadership as well.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Speaker, I believe the greatest threat we have to our own national security here is a nuclear-armed Iran, an entity that has said time and again that they want to wipe Israel off the face of the map, that they want to drive them into the sea, that they are the Little Satan, which naturally begs the question, Mr. Speaker, as to who is the Big Satan, and it is the United States of America.

This is a framework, the framework that has been announced, the one that Iran basically said, We didn't think that was the framework. The chants of ``death to America.'' What they said is that they have to take all the sanctions off immediately upon the signature of a deal and that the IAEA will not be granted access to inspect facilities that are military facilities. Well, frankly, that is not a deal. I recognize that is a framework.

What we are debating today is really talking about Congress having the ability to say: Is this a deal that we can live with or is it not? Because, frankly, leaving Iran as a nuclear threshold state is not going to be a deal. What we are going to be debating today is, in essence, just allowing us to be able to take the next vote. That is the important one.

Madam Speaker, this is not left versus right. This isn't about Republicans and Democrats. This is about right versus wrong. This is about making sure that we do this right. If we don't do this right, if Iran is set for a path to a nuclear weapon, it is going to set an arms race in a dangerous neighborhood that will be devastating for peace and security around the globe. This is one where we are going to join hands together as a nation to make sure that the safety and security of the world is what we are going to put first and foremost.

Madam Speaker, I just got back from Israel. I had the opportunity to speak with people on multiple sides. To the person, they are all united behind the idea that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable and that this will be a bad deal.

So I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this piece of legislation to allow us to have the opportunity to take a look at this deal to move forward. With that, I sincerely hope that this is a bipartisan effort.

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