Protecting Volunteer Firefighters And Emergency Responders Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HOYER. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

First, let me say that I agree with my friend who is, I think, one of our very responsible and able leaders in this Congress, Mr. Ellison. I appreciate his comments.

I presume that everybody on this floor, whatever their perspective is, thinks that the objective that the United States seeks and the objective that our P5 partners seek and the objective that the United Nations seeks--and that is a non-nuclear-armed Iran--is best achieved through agreement.

I think all of us would agree on that. The question is, however, for us to make it very clear the objective of that agreement and how it is achieved and how we are assured that that objective is, in fact, achieved.

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate Senator Cardin, my dear friend, the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, for his hard work to reach this compromise with Chairman Corker. I want to congratulate Mr. Royce and Mr. Engel for bringing it to the floor for quick consideration.

This compromise bill allows Congress to look carefully at the final agreement. For something of such consequence, that is essential. Not only is it desirable, it is essential that we do so. It will help ensure that our common goal is achieved, a non-nuclear-armed Iran.

I will say to my friend from Minnesota, my presumption is the Iranians want to get to this. They say they are not looking for nuclear arms; they want to have relief of the sanctions. It seems to me this is in their best interest, so they ought to be trying to accommodate this. I think, in fact, this can help, not hurt, our negotiating position.

I believe this bill reflects the consensus among Members of both the House and Senate that Congress, which authored the sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table--I would say, again, to my friend from Minnesota, the reason the sanctions were effective in bringing the Iranians to the table is because our European allies joined in them. I think he is absolutely right.

Unilaterally, we couldn't have done that because we don't do that much business with Iran; the Europeans do. He is absolutely right that it was in partnership that we brought the Iranians to the table.

I want to also thank, Mr. Speaker, our negotiating team for their tireless efforts to reach a framework agreement.

A letter was recently signed by 150. I didn't sign the letter, but I absolutely agreed with the substance of the letter, which said the best way to get there is through agreement, and we ought to support our negotiators who are pursuing that end.

As I have said before, any final agreement must prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and include the most intrusive inspections and access regime we have ever seen in order to verify Iran's compliance. There is no reason for us to trust Iran.

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Mr. HOYER. It must address potentially military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program and bring about Iran's full cooperation with the U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The United States must never permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and we will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel in defense of its security, which is very tied to our own security. That means ensuring Israel maintains its Qualitative Military Edge, including through robust support for antimissile systems and antitunneling defense programs. It also means supporting our gulf partners from Iran's destabilizing activities.

Preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon is directly in America's national security interest. A nuclear-armed Iran is a threat to us all. This bill will ensure that Congress can review any final nuclear agreement with Iran to make certain that it meets the goals we and the President share and which he has articulated emphatically and repeatedly. I encourage my colleagues to support this bipartisan legislation.

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