Approval of Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I come to the floor today to reiterate my deep-seated belief that the Iran nuclear deal is a dangerous mistake of historic proportions.

On my recent trip to Israel, I learned firsthand how the Iranian regime will use this deal to further its terrorist ambitions and threaten the peace and security of the entire Middle East.

Because of the unprecedented number of concessions offered to the Iranians by the Obama Administration, this deal will do little to prevent Iran from ultimately obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In actuality, instead of averting Iran's quest for the bomb, this deal will speed other nations' desire for nuclear arsenals and provide one of our greatest enemies with the resources it desperately needs. Resources that

Iran will turn around and use to fund attacks on our interests in the Middle East and beyond.

We are providing our sworn enemy with the means to attack us, and all we get in exchange is a brief delay in their unending quest for a nuclear weapon.

This terrible deal not only affords Iran legitimacy for a partial nuclear program at present, but allows them a full and unfettered program after 15 years.

Mr. Speaker, under this deal, Iran will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in sanctions relief and be allowed access to advanced weaponry and ballistic missiles it can use to threaten its neighbors and the United States.

Iran will be free to use the weapons and money provided by this agreement to fuel its terrorist aspirations around the region, threatening our ally Israel and further inflaming a region already in crisis.

Under this deal, the world's number one sponsor of terrorism will suddenly have access to enormous resources that it can distribute to its allies Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria.

This is a completely unacceptable outcome for the United States, Israel, and our allies in the Middle East.

Wagering the peace and security of the U.S., Israel and the world on the small chance that a hateful regime will suddenly see the error of its ways is not only wrong, it is dangerous.

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that, no matter how much the President may wish it to be so, Iran's decades long record of terrorism, extremism and hate will not suddenly change simply because this deal has been signed.

Our allies are almost uniformly opposed to this deal. On my recent trip to Israel, I had the honor and privilege of meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for over two hours.

We discussed the Iran deal at length, and I came away even more convinced that this deal is not only foolhardy, it is dangerous.

Prime Minister Netanyahu explained to us how the Obama Administration has sold out our Israeli allies to strike a deal with a murderous and untrustworthy Iranian regime.

The President expects Congress to stand idly by and do nothing while he trades the security of the U.S. and its allies for a legacy-burnishing accomplishment.

He expects us to sit on the sidelines while his Administration offers one concession after another to the Iranians, and agrees on a deal that would endanger the stability of the entire Middle East and jeopardize U.S. national security.

But that will not happen. We will not stand idly by while the American people's security is traded for some empty promises.

A nuclear-armed Iran would start a new arms race in the Middle East and pose an intolerable threat to the national security of the United States and our allies, especially Israel.

Mr. Speaker, for the sake of our children, and our children's children, we must face down this threat now before it is too late.

I urge my colleagues to review this agreement with an eye towards history, towards the past, present and future of a region critical to America's national interests.

Iran has a record of deception and hostility towards American interests, no amount of wishful thinking will change their core tendencies.

Congress must use this opportunity to stand up for what is right.

The United States must not capitulate in the face of persistent evil. We must stand together, united against the threat of a nuclear Iran, in order to guarantee a free and peaceful tomorrow.

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