Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016

Floor Speech

Until just a few weeks ago, I did not object to Mr. Szubin's nomination.

I did oppose the nomination in the Banking Committee because he supports a clearly inconsistent interpretation of the Iran threat reduction act because it would hinder the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal. To be fair to Mr. Szubin, he is well respected on both sides of the aisle, having worked in the former Bush administration. I suspect this is not his interpretation. This is the interpretation of the community organizer, the failed novelist, and the political operative who are in charge of implementing these parts of the Iran nuclear deal. However, I couldn't, in good conscience, support the nomination given that clearly flawed interpretation.

But just 2 or 3 weeks ago, Secretary Jack Lew gave a speech in which he all but announced that the U.S. Government would allow Iran access to the U.S. dollar. This would truly unravel every last sanction we have against Iran, not just for their nuclear program but for their campaign of aggression and terror throughout the Middle East.

This is in direct contradiction to what Secretary Lew said and in direct contradiction to what Mr. Szubin said. In fact, I would note Mr. Szubin's testimony before the Banking Committee last summer:

Iranian banks will not be able to clear U.S. dollars through New York, hold correspondent account relationships with U.S. financial institutions, or enter into financing arrangements with U.S. banks. . . . In short, Iran will continue to be denied access to the world's principal financial and commercial market.

Further, in another quote, he said: . . . nor will Iran be able to access the U.S. banking sector, even for that momentary transaction to, what we call, dollarize a foreign payment.

Yet Secretary Lew has all but announced that the U.S. Government will allow Iran to dollarize their foreign transactions. In fact, Secretary of State John Kerry just this week is meeting with his Iranian counterpart to try to figure out more ways we can heap economic benefits on the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism.

So until President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and Secretary Lew publicly and conclusively renounce any intent to allow Iran to dollarize a foreign transaction, I will object to this nomination.

If the Senator from Ohio and 41 other Democrats don't like that, they should have considered that before they voted for a deal that gave over $100 billion to the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism.

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