Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders

Floor Speech

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Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking Chairman Royce and Ranking Member Engel and Senators Corker, Cardin, and Menendez for doing their level best in the face of an administration which, throughout this process, has ignored and sought to exclude the legislature from its constitutional role in ratifying what is, in essence, a treaty--it is called an executive agreement, but it is a treaty--with the vicious, rights-abusing regime in Tehran, to salvage what we all can from an egregiously flawed framework and process.

It is clear, from the trajectory of negotiations to date, that the administration has squandered the leverage gained through sanctions, and there has been slippage--or, rather, retreat--from the strong position staked out in a number of U.N. Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1929 agreed to in 2010. Resolution 1929 demanded that Iran: one, suspend all uranium enrichment; two, cooperate fully with the IAEA ensuring unfettered on-site inspection; and, three, refrain from any activity related to ballistic missiles.

Iran is now closer to achieving access to nuclear weapons and to the missiles to carry them to targets, including cities in the United States, while being relieved of sanctions.

From what we know now of the proposed framework, over 5,000 centrifuges will be allowed. Furthermore, it is Iran's understanding that military sites will be off limits--what?--off limits to inspection and that ballistic missiles, the delivery systems for nuclear bombs, are not part of the framework.

As a prerequisite to sitting down with the regime in Tehran, I and others have argued that the administration should have insisted that all Americans held or missing in Iran, including Christian pastor Saeed Abedini be released.

I am concerned, Mr. Speaker, that an agreement under these terms--terms which, underscore that, we have backtracked in these negotiations--will give new meaning to the phrase ``Pyrrhic victory.''

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