“And it looks to me like the administration is planning once again to ignore Congress and the American people, in his pursuit of an inadequate deal with Iran. It’s time for Congress to step in – and to stand up for the American people.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor about how any nuclear deal with Iran needs to go before Congress and the American people first.
Excerpts of his remarks:
“Next Tuesday, March 24, we will reach the deadline for a deal with Iran on its illicit nuclear program.
“That’s the date by which the Obama administration said it would have a framework for a final agreement with Iran.
“So far, it seems like the administration is willing to make a deal at any cost.
“America cannot afford that – and Congress should not allow it.
“An overwhelming majority of Americans believe that we should not accept a bad deal with the Iranians.
“In one poll earlier this month, 84 percent of Americans said that it’s a bad idea to accept the kinds of concessions that this administration seems to be making.
“The Obama administration started negotiating with Iran more than five years ago.
“It has mishandled these talks from the very beginning, by conceding Iran’s right to enrich uranium.
“This deal was supposed to be about stopping Iran’s nuclear program, as a pathway to a bomb.
“Negotiators started off by insisting that Iran should have no more than 1,500 centrifuges to produce nuclear materials.
“That number has grown steadily during the negotiations.
“According to David Ignatius in the Washington Post, February 24, the number is now four times the level where we started.
“The article is entitled: ‘A compelling argument on Iran.’
“It says, ‘The deal taking shape would likely allow Iran about 6,000’ centrifuges. So we’ve gone from 1,500 to 4,000 now to 6,000.
“The writer says that one administration official told him that even 9,000 centrifuges would be OK.
“Now remember, Iran is not supposed to have a uranium enrichment program.
“The United Nations Security Council has demanded that the program be suspended.
“So why is the Obama administration negotiating on this point at all?
“When did this change from being an attempt to stop Iran’s nuclear program, and now become an attempt to delay or to manage Iran’s nuclear program?
“If this deal makes too many of these kinds of concessions to the Iranians, it would be just one more example of the failed foreign relations of this Obama presidency.
“Go back and look at what happened with the Russia reset. It’s the reset button that Secretary of State Clinton launched in March of 2009 – six years ago this month.
“Look at her comments in which she said that Syrian President Assad was ‘a reformer.’
“President Obama talked about a ‘red line’ with Syria—a red line that Syria could not cross by using chemical weapons against his own people.
“Assad crossed the line more than two years ago.
“Remember when the president called ISIS a JV team?
“It’s all part of a pattern of the Obama administration underestimating our enemies, and being outmaneuvered by them.
“This administration has a record, a terrible record, of being wrong about Iran as well.
“When Congress was debating increased sanctions against Iran, the White House opposed those sanctions.
“Congress had to force sanctions authority on the president.
“It was those sanctions, the ones that Congress imposed upon the president, those were the sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table.
“Now the administration says that it opposes congressional participation once again.
“Well, I don’t believe the White House gets to be the sole decider on this important issue.
“The administration claims that it understands it would be better to have no deal at all than to have a bad deal. And I agree.
“That’s why we need oversight –oversight by Congress to make sure that this is not a bad deal.
“The negotiators don’t get to decide for themselves if this is a good deal or a bad deal.
“The American people get a say – and Congress as the elected representatives of the people, is the right place for the people to have their voices heard.
“So what does the Obama administration have to say about all of this?
“The president’s chief of staff sent a letter over the weekend, Saturday night, Saturday night surprise, and he said that Congress will get to be involved only after the administration signs a deal.
“Congress gets to be involved, only after people get to find out what’s in it, after President Obama signs a deal.
“Kind of like Nancy Pelosi when she said of the health care law, first you have to pass it, before you get to find out what’s in it.
“So why is it that the chief of staff of the president is acting in this way?
“Why is the Obama administration telling members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, to sit down and be quiet?
“Let’s be clear about what’s at stake here.
“If the Obama administration allows Iran to continue with its illicit nuclear program, the world will be less safe, less stable, and less secure.
“Any agreement must be accountable, must be enforceable, and must be verifiable.
“If that’s not the case, then it’s a bad deal.
“We need to make sure that this deal is about protecting Americans – not protecting the president’s diplomatic legacy.
“If the Obama administration is so confident that it can negotiate a good deal, well why not let Congress participate?
“We’ve got bipartisan legislation here that Senator Corker has written, with Democrats and Republican co-sponsors.
“That legislation, bipartisan legislation, would make sure that congressional sanctions that are currently in place, that they stay in place—that they stay in place long enough for Congress to hold hearings and to take whatever action is needed.
“That bill being proposed, taking it up in the Foreign Relations Committee next week, that bill would guarantee that the president keeps an eye on Iran’s compliance with any agreement.
“If the Iranians try to break the deal, we would know about it, so that Congress would reinstate sanctions.
“The American people need to be involved in this process.
“Getting them on board – and getting the approval of Congress – to me that only will strengthen the agreement that the administration negotiates. It will validate it, it will give more legitimacy to it, more credibility.
“Congress should and must be involved.
“It will make clear – to both our allies and our enemies – that America stands united in our commitment to ending Iran’s nuclear program.
“It also makes it far more likely that this agreement will outlast the Obama administration.
“When President Obama and Vice President Biden were Senators, they favored this kind of involvement by Congress.
“They both actually co-sponsored legislation requiring Congress to approve any long-term security commitment that President Bush was to make with Iraq.
“Well, a long agreement with Iran over its nuclear program to me is even more important.
“In one policy after another, President Obama has disregarded the views of the American people. This is a huge concern.
“He’s ignored Congress, he acted on his own, even when he had no authority to act.
“He’s done it on the domestic side, he’s done it on the foreign relations side.
“And it looks to me like the administration is planning once again to ignore Congress and the American people, in his pursuit of an inadequate deal with Iran.
“It’s time for Congress to step in – and to stand up for the American people.”
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