United States Financial System Protection Act of 2016
Floor Speech
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Mr. ZELDIN. Mr. Speaker, I thank Chairman Royce for bringing this important legislation.
The American public stands with you, Chairman, and there are multiple reasons why the American public will stand with all of this Congress that will vote for this bill.
For one, the American public has an issue with financing Iranian terror through U.S. financial infrastructure. The American public has had an enormous issue with a lot of specifics related to the Iran nuclear agreement. It is not really much of an agreement. It is an unsigned political commitment.
There are material differences with regard to the agreement. The U.S. said, We are going to be able to access military sites. The Iranians said, Before, during, and after the negotiation, you will never be able to access our military sites. We said, Sanctions relief will be phased in over the course of time based on compliance. The Iranians say, No, sanctions relief will be immediate, no suspension. These are pretty important parts of the agreement.
Well, let's talk about some other parts that weren't part of the agreement, they weren't able to agree to. So they put into a secretive deal between the Iranians and an entity that we have no ability to actually be on an inspections team because, as the AP reports, the IAEA's agreement with the U.S.--these so-called deals where the verification is outlined. The Iranians, in some cases, are inspecting their own nuclear sites. In other cases, they are responsible for collecting some of their own soil samples.
That is why the American public stands with everyone who votes for this legislation, because of all the unilateral concessions that have been made since this agreement has been made. This isn't the only one.
Buying heavy water for no reason. While this President is holding the heavy water of the Iranians, those who vote for this bill, who have opposed the Iran nuclear agreement, they are holding the heavy water of American security for their $1.7 billion payment that was made after this deal was reached: a $400 million debt, plus $1.3 billion of interest.
Or our detained soldiers, who were embarrassed through photography and videography. And we are saying thank you for releasing our sailors? The American public was outraged. Using our sailors as propaganda to make yourself look strong and the rest of us look weak.
Or maybe it is giving the Iranians access to U.S. financial institutions.
We are being laughed at. The Iranians will take to the street and they will chant ``Death to America,'' they will continue their illegal test firing of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and they will detain Americans unjustly.
They know that we didn't even ask for a signature. Think about it. Of all the agreements we enter into in life--buying a car or buying a home--we couldn't even ask for a signature.
The American public is upset.
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