United States Financial System Protection Act of 2016

Floor Speech

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Mr. LYNCH. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 4992, the so-called United States Financial System Protection Act of 2016.

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 4992 would directly violate our commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. There is no question about that. By reimposing the secondary sanctions on Iran's banking sector, we clearly violate the terms of that JCPOA.

These are not transactions between the U.S. and Iran, but, rather, these are banking transactions that occur outside the U.S. financial system. These sanctions were lifted on implementation day, according to the agreement, but only after we put International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors in place in Iran, on the ground, to verify Iran's compliance with the deal.

That verification and reporting occurs on a monthly basis. The last report we have from the IAEA, who are on the ground in Iran, is that they are, indeed, in full compliance with the terms of the JCPOA which addressed their nuclear program.

Critics of the JCPOA will tell you that this bill is needed to ensure that Iran does not gain access to the U.S. financial system. Yet the administration has made clear that we are not going to reinstate the U- turn authorization or grant Iran access to the U.S. financial system. And, during the JCPOA talks, the U.S. stood firm that our sanctions against Iran's weapons of mass destruction, human rights violations, and support for terrorism were not on the table. They were not part of that agreement. And our primary trade embargo on Iran, with certain limited exceptions, is still in place.

Now, critics of the JCPOA will also tell you that the license that has been granted to Boeing to sell civilian passenger aircraft to Iran is really a subterfuge and that Iran is going to use these commercial jetliners to transport weapons or personnel in a military capacity.

They ignore the fact that Iran already has military combat aircraft that they purchased from Russia. So there is no need for Iran to buy Airbus aircraft from the EU or Boeing aircraft from the United States in order to fund their military, their air force. So that is clearly not something that they are trying to do. Like I said, they could buy directly from the Russian Government, as they have done in the past and they continue to do, combat aircraft.

Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that exactly 1 year after the U.S. and the P5+1 announced the landmark JCPOA that Congress is voting to undermine it. The bills on the floor this week are an attempt to undermine that by opponents of this deal and have another bite of the apple and try to bring down the agreement.

I would like to remind my fellow Members that we have debated this already and the House and Senate failed to pass a joint resolution of disapproval. That deal is done. And, so far, even according to high- level Israeli officials, Iran remains in compliance with that agreement.

We should focus instead on ensuring that this is fully implemented and that our inspectors have a full and fair opportunity to maintain that Iran is indeed in compliance.

The global community, as a result of this agreement, will be in a better position to know and to respond sooner and with the benefit of having vast, detailed intelligence about Iran's nuclear facilities. We are there, we are on the ground like never before.

Iran has removed over two-thirds of its centrifuges and placed them under international supervision. That is a cut of nearly 14,000. It stopped enriching uranium and removed nuclear material from Fordow, one of its major facilities. It has cut its fissile material stockpile by 98 percent, from 12,000 kilograms to less than 300 kilograms of only non-weapons-grade material. The heavy water reactor at Arak has been rendered unusable for nuclear purposes. Finally, the JCPOA has verifiably delayed any possible path Iran may have to a nuclear weapon.

Enacting this bill, H.R. 4992, or any of these anti-Iran-nuclear-deal bills would give Iran's hardliners the very excuse that they want to rip up the JCPOA, kick out the IAEA inspectors on the agreement, and race toward getting a nuclear bomb.

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Mr. LYNCH. If we do sabotage this deal, will we be able to count on the backup from the global community to bring Iran back into line? It is a risk I believe is dangerous and, in this case, unnecessary.

I urge my fellow Members to defeat H.R. 4992.

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