Urging Support For H. Res. 782, A Resolution Demanding Iran Disclose Fully And Allow Unfettered Inspection Of Its Nuclear Program

Floor Speech

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.Resolution 782. This is a resolution that I have introduced and which demands that Iran fully disclose its nuclear facilities, its nuclear development facilities, and also allow unfettered international inspection of its nuclear program.

The elimination of nuclear weapons is an issue that is certainly very close to my heart, and I would like to see that nuclear weapons actually are removed from the face of the planet. So it certainly goes in the wrong direction were we as a Nation to tolerate another nation, especially Iran, acquiring the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

What's troubling is last week the whole world learned that Iran has concealed construction of an enrichment facility near the city of Qom. And they did that without knowing that our intelligence community already knew that the facility was over there. It just had not been publicly disclosed, as it was last week. I guess one of the motivations for not disclosing it prior to last week was to just see how deep in the bad faith bucket would Iran pull its water from. They had no intention of revealing it. It was secret. They exercised deception to conceal it. So our country's announcement last week I'm sure was not a happy time for the Iranian leadership.

Having set the model for how they will deal with the international community insofar as nuclear enrichment and from that acquiring or building a nuclear weapon, we have to make sure that we reverse that bad faith into good faith if at all possible. One of the ways of doing that is through continued tightening of sanctions and to isolate the country of Iran for continuing to be deceptive about its nuclear intentions and its nuclear program.

So while my resolution, H. Res. 782, does not impose sanctions, it just merely puts the House of Representatives on record, as we approach the Geneva talks coming up on Thursday, that we want to have disclosure immediately, immediate international inspections, and immediate access by inspectors to its nuclear facilities. That's what this resolution does.

My friend Chairman Howard Berman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has a number of options that he is considering with respect to sanctions. So in no way would I want this bill to interfere with other measures that will be coming forward out of his committee. But this is necessitated by haste because of the approaching deadline for the Geneva talks to begin.

We have got wide bipartisan support, and I hope my colleagues will join the 39 Members from both sides of the aisle who have already cosponsored it.

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