Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015--Motion to Proceed

Floor Speech

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Mr. HEINRICH. Mr. President, in the first decade of this century, when the policies of President George W. Bush entangled our Nation firmly in the war in Iraq, Iran's nuclear program surged ahead rapidly and unchecked. They added thousands and thousands of centrifuges. They built numerous and complex nuclear facilities. They stockpiled highly enriched uranium. As we evaluate the proposed nuclear accord with Iran, it is important to compare what we have achieved with our allies against this reality.

I firmly believe that as we work to ensure that Iran is never able to develop nuclear weapons, facts, data, and details actually matter far more than the rhetoric you hear here in Washington, DC. Perhaps it is just the engineer in me, but when the accord became public, I sat down that morning and I started highlighting numbers. People in Washington are amazingly adept at arguing that up is down and that right is left. But numbers and data are a little harder to bend to our rhetorical will.

Let's start with this most important and critical data point: Without a deal, Iran has enough nuclear material stockpiled that they could acquire enough highly enriched material for a bomb in 2 to 3 months. That is what you hear talked about on the news as breakout time. Today Iran's breakout time is 2 to 3 months. They have enough material that were they to move forward, they could break out in just a matter of months. With this accord in place, their pathway forward is blocked. What is more, the breakout time is pushed back to over a year, giving us and our allies around the world enough time to make sure they don't move down this very dangerous path.

Let's move on to another key data point. If you went back to 2003, Iran only had 164 centrifuges. They surged forward--adding centrifuges, adding more advanced and complex centrifuges--to where they now have 19,000 centrifuges today.

With this deal, once again, that number has rolled back. It has rolled back by two-thirds. But more importantly, of the 6,000 that remain, 1,000 of those cannot be used for enrichment, and all of them are the most basic and primitive IR-1 models.

In addition, without a deal, Iran has amassed 12,000 kilograms, which is over 26,000 pounds of enriched uranium. This slide shows the public a representative example of what that would look like today. Under this accord, that is rolled back by 98 percent to just 300 kilograms. So starting from over 26,000 pounds, or 12,000 kilograms, and reducing it by 98 percent, they no longer have the capacity or the stockpile to be able to quickly move forward to a weaponization scenario.

In addition, it is important to realize Iran had enriched some of its stockpile to 20 percent. That is a very dangerous figure because 20 percent is actually a lot closer to weapons grade, and that would enable them to move quickly to weapons grade. It actually takes far longer to get to 4 percent than it does to get from 20 percent to a weaponized enrichment level.

Under this accord, what previously was an enormous stockpile--and where some of that stockpile had actually reached dangerous levels of enrichment--will be rolled back to a point where all of the very limited 300 kilograms have to be below 4 percent, a level of concentration and enrichment that is appropriate for peaceful energy purposes but not for a weapons program.

In addition, without this accord, Iran's uranium stockpile today is large enough to yield 10 to 12 nuclear bombs. With this accord, they won't have enough stockpile--enough material--to produce even a single nuclear bomb.

Now, we all know that verification is key to success, and under this deal Iran must allow 24/7 inspections and continuous video monitoring at its nuclear infrastructure, including Natanz, Fordow, the Arak reactor, and all of its uranium mining, milling, and processing facilities. Furthermore, there is a mechanism in place that will allow inspections of any additional sites, should we suspect covert action is being taken to build a bomb outside of their existing supply chain. Consequently, this accord breaks each and every pathway that Iran has developed to create a weaponized nuclear device, including any potential covert effort that they might pursue. We should welcome each of those developments as a major step toward both regional and international security.

I have thought about these issues for a long time. I have thought about both the science and the politics of the nuclear age since I was a young boy. I remember growing up listening to my dad because he was there when this age started. He watched nuclear devices being exploded in the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific. He told me stories of what it was like to watch a mushroom cloud form over Enewetak Atoll.

When I was studying engineering at the University of Missouri, I worked at one of the largest research reactors in the country. I know what it is like to look down into that blue glow of a reactor pool. As a Senator from the State of New Mexico, I have seen firsthand many of the world's centrifuges which are housed in my home State of New Mexico and dedicated to the peaceful production of energy.

Serving on the Armed Services Committee, I helped set policy on nonproliferation and nuclear deterrence. As a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have received numerous briefings on both Iran's nuclear program and their capabilities. I am well acquainted with the steps necessary to successfully construct a nuclear weapon and the steps necessary to detect that kind of activity. It is because of this familiarity that I am confident in this accord.

The comprehensive, long-term deal achieved earlier this month includes all of the necessary tools to break each potential Iranian pathway to a nuclear bomb. Further, it incorporates enough lead time--the breakout time that we talked about before, which we currently are in dire need of--so that should Iran change its course in the future, the United States and the world can react well before a device can be built. We hope that scenario never occurs, but should that happen--even with this accord--it truly leaves all of our options on the table, including the military option.

Some of my colleagues in the Senate object to this historical accomplishment, saying that we could have done better; however, none of them have offered any realistic alternatives. The only concrete alternative, should Congress reject this deal, has been to engage in a military strike against Iran. While the military option will always remain on the table for the United States, even as we implement this accord, it should remain our absolute last resort.

As one can imagine, our military and intelligence leaders have looked at the potential repercussions should a direct military conflict with Iran occur. That dangerous path would provoke retaliation, instability, and would likely lead to a nuclear-armed Iran in a matter of just a few years rather than decades or never. Needless to say, this would be an irresponsible mistake.

As former Brigadier General and Deputy to Israel's National Security Advisor Shlomo Brom has said, ``This agreement represents the best chance to make sure Iran never obtains a weapon and the best chance for Congress to support American diplomacy--without taking any options off the table for this or future presidents.''

For too long, our country has been engaged in overseas military conflicts that have cost our Nation dearly in both blood and treasure. We must always be ready at a moment's notice to defend our country, to defend our allies, and even our interests, but we must also look to avoid conflict whenever a diplomatic option is present and possible. At this extraordinary moment, I am convinced that this accord is in the best interest of our Nation and that of our allies.

I am still deeply distrustful of Iran's leadership. To make peace, you negotiate with your enemies, not with your friends. Obviously any deal with Iran will not be without risk, but the risks and the consequences of rejecting this deal are far, far more dire. This deal sets the stage for a safer and more stable Middle East and, for that matter, a more secure United States of America. We must seize this historic opportunity.

I yield the rest of my time.

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