Providing for Consideration of H.R. United States Financial System Protection Act of Providing for Consideration of H.R. No 2H2O From Iran Act; and Providing for Consideration of H.R. Iran Accountability Act of 2016

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in opposition to the rule that provides for consideration of three bills: H.R. 5631, H.R. 5119, H.R. 4992.

Mr. Speaker, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is an agreement which was the culmination of 2 years of negotiations between the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Germany, and Iran. It was really a turning point in the history of nuclear disarmament and prevention of nuclear proliferation.

We have certifiable assurance from Iran that it will cease to develop its nuclear weapons program. It was an historic diplomatic effort. Obviously, the jury is still out on whether it works. But at this point, we need to move forward on the rigid implementation of this agreement.

While any multilateral agreement, by its very nature, is far from perfect, many believe that this deal represented the best shot at preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. So far, it is too early to say whether the agreement is working.

There is no doubt--and I think there is agreement--that Iran is a destabilizing force in the region. It is a hostile regime. The regular regime and their theocracy and the Ayatollah regularly spout anti- American, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-gay statements. They have a track record of supporting terrorist activities and have a horrible domestic record on human rights. But as many renowned experts, including military officials and nonproliferation experts and nuclear physicists have recognized, there weren't any better options on the table than the JCPOA to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

The deal is not based on blind trust. It is predicated on third-party verification and strong international monitoring provisions that need to be fully implemented so that we will know if the Iranians cheat. The deal mandates that if Iran violates any aspect of the deal, there are tough snapback sanctions that would be employed against the Iranians.

Keep in mind that there are a number of sanctions that are not related to nuclear deterrence. Those are still in place with regard to Iran, and will remain in place with regard to terrorist activity and human rights. The bill does not remove the military option from the table if today's Iranian regime or future Iranian regimes fail to abide by the agreement.

In contrast, the three bills under consideration today are an effort to undermine the direction that America and Israel are going with regard to rigid implementation of the JCPOA.

Let's start with the flawed process. None of these bills have had a chance to be considered by committee. They just sort of appeared here in the Rules Committee. They didn't go through the Foreign Affairs Committee or the Armed Services Committee or any other committee. They skipped a markup. They skipped bipartisan negotiations. As far as I know, I certainly didn't see them. I don't think any Members on my side of the aisle saw them--if the gentleman has other information, let us know--until earlier this week.

So I am not aware of any bipartisan negotiations. Certainly, that normally occurs in the committee. This leapt over the committee and went right to the Rules Committee and, of course, will be considered under a closed rule, which means Members of this body, Democratic and Republicans, had no chance to amend these bills that mysteriously appeared on Monday. They didn't have a chance in committee. It went through committee. They don't have a chance here because the Rules Committee actually blocked every amendment by having a closed process.

We have an amendment process for a reason, under regular order. It provides Members of this body, the majority and minority party, the opportunity for input and debate. It often leads to a better work product. Unfortunately, under this rule, it is not being allowed on those bills.

These bills short-circuited the process. They are bad bills. It is only through continued engagement and rigid implementation that we can continue to make sure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons, by keeping our voice and the conversation at the table. If we don't do that, it would be a critical miscalculation.

We can agree that the Iranian regime can be untrustworthy, and that is why we need rigid implementation of the JCPOA. Getting Iran to the negotiating table reduces the risk of adding another nuclear state to a secure world. We need to verify, verify. And, of course, all options remain on the table.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I would like to inquire if the gentleman has any additional speakers.

Mr. Speaker, I will be offering a motion in a moment that, if we defeat the previous question, I will offer an amendment to bring up the bipartisan ``No Fly No Buy'' legislation, so this will give Members of this body another opportunity to vote on bringing up the bill that would bar the sale of explosives and firearms to terrorists, and help make sure that terrorists don't assemble arsenals in our country to commit terrorist acts against our country. The time to act is now.

To discuss our previous question, I yield as much time as he may consume to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Doggett).

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Mr. POLIS. Will the gentleman yield?

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Mr. POLIS. The gentleman from Texas is correct. Effectively, rather than actually find resources to develop a vaccine against Zika, they basically said, we are going to be taking the money from Ebola, which, by the way, still exists, still is a threat. We need to be ready for the next threat of an Ebola or Ebola-like danger to our citizens from a public health perspective.

In addition, the initial Republican attempts included things that they long wanted to do, like remove dangerous insecticides from the list of insecticides that are prohibited, due to their harm to human health as well as ecosystems and animal health.

The solution is straightforward. We need to develop a vaccine. We need to increase our public health infrastructure around this menace, and the bill fell short on that account because, effectively, it said, we might be able to not deal with Ebola and deal with this instead.

The truth is, the American people want a public health infrastructure that keeps them safe from Ebola and Zika and every other potential biological threat that is out there. The American people want to be safe. It is a dynamic world with increased travel, increased commerce. There are biological threats from all quarters, and we need the public health infrastructure to keep up with that.

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Mr. POLIS. I thank the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. Speaker, the time to act is now. If we can defeat this particular previous question, we will bring up the bill that prevents terrorists from assembling arsenals of weapons.

We also, of course, want to be part of a constructive discussion around combating the Zika menace. I am hopeful that the House will find time to do that in the next few days.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``no'' to defeat the previous question so that we can keep our country safer. Vote ``no'' on the rule. Vote ``no'' on the underlying bills because they interfere with our efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons in the rigid implementation of the JCPOA.

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Mr. POLIS. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

The yeas and nays were ordered.

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