Hire More Heroes Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I listened carefully to the eloquent remarks of the distinguished Senator from California and all of the countries around the world that embrace this deal, and I didn't hear mentioned once the nation of Israel, our most significant and important ally in the Middle East. And it is because, in fact, they do not approve.
As we have heard from the Prime Minister several months ago, this paves the way to a nuclear weapon. It completely transforms American policy, which had been to deny Iran a nuclear weapon, and it paves the path to a nuclear weapon.
But as I was contemplating this debate, I decided it was important for me to visit with Rick Kupke of Arlington, TX. Rick was one of 53 Americans who were held hostage and held for 14 months in Iran at the time of the Iranian Revolution. In an interview with one of our newspapers in Fort Worth, when asked about this deal with Iran, he said:
This is probably the worst agreement of this kind I've seen in my lifetime.
This is an experienced, seasoned Foreign Service officer. He continued:
I don't know why they think the Iranians are going to abide by any agreement. They never have.
So I approach this agreement between President Obama and the regime in Tehran with a tremendous amount of skepticism.
But this debate shouldn't be a partisan one, and I worry that it is quickly becoming partisan, based on the stated intention of the minority leader, Senator Reid, the Senator from Nevada, to actually filibuster and prevent an up-or-down vote on this resolution of disapproval. This is something that apparently is being actively encouraged by the President of the United States. Just a short time after the President himself signed the bill--a bipartisan bill with 98 votes in the Senate, which sets up the procedure by which this resolution will be voted on--the President, the minority leader, and, apparently, many Democrats are tempted to filibuster this most important national security issue that I have confronted and seen since I have been in the Senate--and many would say during their lifetime.
The President has really taken the low road, I am sorry to say. He has claimed that those chanting ``Death to America'' in Iran are ``making common cause with the Republican caucus.'' That is the President of the United States.
I would like to point out there are several influential leaders of the President's own party who are opposed to this deal and they include some of this Chamber's most expert and respected Members in the field of foreign affairs.
First of all, the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Cardin, to whom I personally express my admiration and respect for his courage--he pointed out in his remarks, when he announced he would vote for the resolution of disapproval, that the deal ``legitimizes Iran's nuclear program.'' He also said: ``Under this agreement, Iran is permitted to be able to enrich to a level that will take them extremely close to breakout, legally.''
The junior Senator from Maryland has made clear he shares the concerns many of us have expressed; that this deal leaves far too much of Iran's nuclear infrastructure intact and indeed legitimizes their nuclear program--something our stated national policy just a short time ago was to oppose.
The senior Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer--perhaps one of the Members on that side of the aisle whose vote was most anticipated before he announced it--announced he is for the resolution of disapproval. He said: ``I believe Iran will not change, and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and non-nuclear power.''
Senator Schumer makes the point that Iran has gotten everything it wants. It has a pathway to a nuclear weapon, it has retained its nuclear infrastructure, and it has gotten an elimination of sanctions.
The former chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Menendez, on August 18 announced his decision to oppose this bad deal. He said the deal ``failed to achieve the one thing it set out to achieve--it failed to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state at a time of its choosing.'' In fact, he said it ``authorizes and supports the very roadmap Iran will need to arrive at its target.''
These are not members of the Republican caucus. These are respected members of the Democratic caucus.
There used to be a time--and I hope it returns quickly--where matters of this gravity and seriousness, threats to our national security, were treated with bipartisan cooperation and consensus building, but apparently the President didn't get that memo--encouraging folks on that side of the aisle to prevent even an up-or-down vote on the resolution of disapproval and presumably cutting short the debate and hoping people across America aren't really paying attention to exactly how bad this deal is and how much it makes the world more dangerous rather than safer.
I hope our colleagues, even if they will vote for this deal or will vote against the resolution of disapproval--I hope they will allow us to have the sort of fulsome debate this serious issue deserves. Then they will be held accountable, as we will, for their vote either for or against the resolution of disapproval.
I note that President Obama seems to want to arrogate to himself not even an authority that the Ayatollah Khamenei appears to have. Ayatollah Khamenei said the Iranian Parliament will vote on this deal, but apparently President Obama doesn't feel the United States Senate should have the same opportunity the Iranian Parliament is going to have--to vote on the merits or lack of merits on this deal.
I hope our colleagues across the aisle will rethink their partisan opposition to actually even having an up-or-down vote on the resolution of disapproval. This could well be, as many have said before me, one of the most consequential foreign policy issues to come before us in a long time, and we ought to treat it with that sort of seriousness.
The American people need to listen--and they are listening--and they will hold all of us accountable for our decisions.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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