Protecting Volunteer Firefighters and Emergency Responders Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, I will yield to Chairman Royce for a colloquy, and I will ask him the following questions.

As I read this bill, if Congress does not enact a Joint Resolution of Disapproval, that failure to enact a Resolution of Disapproval cannot be read as Congress approving an agreement.

As I read the bill, if Congress does not enact a Resolution of Disapproval, the sole effect of that is to continue current statutes so that the President would retain his authority to provide sanctions relief.

Do you agree?

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Mr. SHERMAN. I thank the gentleman for his clarification.

If this deal is signed, I do not think that Congress will enact a Resolution of Disapproval over the President's veto--maybe not even vote for it on the floor. It is even less likely that Congress will enact a Resolution of Approval.

So we will be in a situation where Congress will not have acted, and as the chairman points out, Congress would not have approved this agreement.

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Mr. SHERMAN. If the President signs an agreement, Iran will get certain benefits and certain funds will be made available to them. At the same time, Iran will ship its stockpiles out of the country--or a substantial portion of them--decommission some centrifuges, and thereby delay its effort to get a nuclear weapon.

That means in 2017, and every year thereafter, future Congresses and future Presidents will have to determine what American policy is. We would be free to demand a renegotiation of the agreement, or to simply continue it in force. A President could reactivate sanctions, or continue to waive them. Congress could enact new sanctions, or repeal existing sanctions.

All options will be on the table in the years to come. And the only thing I am certain of is that we will be on this floor debating Iran and its nuclear program for many years to come.

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