Hire More Heroes Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the issue before us is of immense consequence to our country. The American people are entitled to a real voice and to know where their elected Senators stand on this important issue.
Until recently, this was a principle Members of both parties seemed to endorse rather overwhelmingly. In fact, not a single Democrat--not one--voted against the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. We all recall it passed 98 to 1. They told us this was an issue too important for political games.
This is what one Democratic colleague said just last week:
As a caucus that was opposed to games with filibusters over the last four years, I would think it would be really regrettable if we didn't ultimately go to the floor and cast our votes for or against this deal.
But that was last week, apparently. Democratic Senators just voted to filibuster and block the American people from even having a real vote on one of the most consequential foreign policy issues of our time.
It is telling that Democrats would go to such extreme lengths to prevent President Obama from even having to consider legislation on this issue. If the President is so proud of this deal, then he shouldn't be afraid.
We all know the amount of time the administration has spent here asking all of these guys to take a bullet for the team--and, of course, the team is Team Obama. They all wanted to have a say. When it came time to have a say, they said it was more important that the President not have to veto a resolution of disapproval--more important to him than to them.
This is a deal that was designed to go around Congress and the American people from the very start. We all remember the President didn't want to submit it to us at all. It was going to be an executive agreement, it is still an executive agreement, and he didn't want us to have any say at all.
Senator Corker and Senator Cardin worked together and developed a proposal--overwhelmingly proposed and supported--to give us a chance to weigh in on this important deal.
It would empower Iran to maintain thousands of centrifuges and to become a recognized nuclear-threshold state, forever on the edge of developing a nuclear weapon. That is what is before us.
It would effectively subsidize Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Assad regime in Syria--which, by the way, is now going to apparently include a Russian military base in Syria--by showering tens of billions of dollars on their benefactors in Tehran.
It would leave Iran with an enrichment capability just as the Iranian leadership is again calling for Israel's destruction and praying every day for our destruction. This deal is sure to have many consequences that will last well beyond this administration.
Yet as things presently stand, it would limp along with little or no buy-in or input from Congress or from the American people--who we know overwhelmingly opposed the deal in spite of the President's best efforts to sell it to them. This shouldn't be an acceptable outcome for our friends on the other side, even those who support the deal. I predicted earlier--and I predict again today--we are going to have a raft of new bash-Iran proposals introduced by our friends on the other side, who are going to be born again Iran bashers.
So let me make it clear to all of our colleagues, we have voted, we are going to vote again, but we are voting on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. We are not going to be taking up bills that have fewer than enough cosponsors to override a Presidential veto. If we want to make a law, as we did with Corker-Cardin, show us enough cosponsors to make a law, but we are not interested in using floor time for get-well efforts over on the other side to try to fool their constituents into thinking: Oh, I really, really was serious about Iran, in spite of the fact that I voted for the deal that you hate.
We only have so much floor time in the Senate. We are going to try to use it on serious proposals that have a chance of becoming law, and my assumption is the President is not going to want to revisit this issue. He got what he wanted. He is not going to want to revisit this issue. So if we want to do anything further about this Iranian regime, bring me a bill with enough cosponsors to override a Presidential veto, and we will take a look at it.
Otherwise, the American people will give us their judgment about the appropriateness of this measure 1 year from November because this is not an ordinary issue. This is an issue with a real shelf life. This is a regime that is still going to be there a year and a half from now.
And, of course, as we know, it is an Executive agreement only. So if, perchance, there is a President of a different party, I would say to our Iranian observers of the debate that it will be looked at anew based upon Iranian behavior between now and then.
As others have said, the Iranian Parliament is apparently going to get to weigh in. I heard the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee say that. I guess they are going to get a vote.
But our friends on the other side want to employ a procedural device, which, as the Democratic leader has pointed out, is commonly used here, but the question is, on what kind of measure is it used?
This is no ordinary measure. This is different.
So we will have another opportunity to see whether we want to move past this procedural device.
The President is proud of the deal. I don't know why he would be reluctant to veto a resolution of disapproval that is put on his desk. He is having press conferences about it. He is bragging about it. He thinks this is really great.
I don't know what they are protecting him from. I would think he would have a veto ceremony and invite all you guys to join him and celebrate. What are you protecting him from?
We will have a chance next week, one more chance, to allow him to say how he feels about the resolution of disapproval. We know how he feels about it already. For the life of me, I can't get why he is reluctant to veto this resolution of disapproval, in effect, underscoring again what a great deal he thinks it is for America.
So we will revisit the issue next week and see if maybe any folks want to change their minds and give us a chance to remove the procedural roadblock and give the President what he has been asking for.
I yield the floor.
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as the Democratic leader frequently reminded me when he was the majority leader, the majority leader always gets the last word.
I enjoyed hearing the Democratic leader's history lesson, going back, as I recount--I am sure I will leave some out--to the Iraq war resolution, which he voted for, as did Hillary Clinton, to a recitation of past debates from ObamaCare, to you name it, including complaining about highways, a bill Senator Boxer and I worked on and actually passed that he voted against, which hopefully will soon be in conference, but none of that has anything to do with what is before us today.
The issue before us today is the Iran nuclear agreement. We know how the American people feel about it. They are overwhelmingly opposed to it. We know how the Israelis feel about it. They are overwhelmingly opposed to it. We know our Sunni-Arab allies are now visiting the Russians to talk about arms purchases because they do not trust us anymore. We know the President wanted to transform the Middle East, and, by golly, he has. Our friends don't trust us and our enemies are emboldened.
So the issue is not over. The Democratic leader saying the issue is over doesn't make it over.
This agreement and the foreign policy of this administration is best summed up by Jimmy Carter. A couple of months ago, he was asked to sum up the Obama administration's foreign policy, and this is almost a direct quote. He said he couldn't think of a single place in the world where we are in better shape now than we were when the President came to office. That is Jimmy Carter.
Foreign policy will be a big issue going into 2016, and this agreement is a metaphor for all of the mistakes this President has made. You name the area of the world, and you will see the results. So no amount of saying the issue is over makes it over. It is still on the floor of the Senate. We will have an opportunity again next week to move past this procedural snag to give all Members of the Senate an opportunity to vote up or down on a resolution of disapproval, which we know is supported on a bipartisan basis.
And I end with this: There is bipartisan opposition to this deal--bipartisan opposition to this deal. Only Democrats support it. So if the President is so proud of it, I can't figure out what these folks over here are protecting him from.
You guys should all be invited down to the veto signing. Break out the champagne, celebrate, take credit for it. You own it.
I yield the floor.
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, there is no question the Israelis need a lot of reinforcement, no question they need to know for sure we are on their side because this administration has just entered into an agreement that by all objective standards could even threaten their very existence. So I think there is no question the Israelis need every reassurance we can possibly give them.
I yield the floor.
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