A Bad Deal with Iran is Worse than No Deal

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. Speaker, in March, before a joint meeting of Congress, the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, warned ``history has placed us at a fateful crossroads.''

As a world leader at the forefront of this crossroad, I believe America has a responsibility to prevent a nuclear Iran. An Iran with nuclear weapons capabilities would further exacerbate and destabilize the region and would certainly inspire an arms race among other nonnuclear nations.

The Obama administration's foreign policy missteps do not inspire confidence that the current negotiations will conclude any differently. After numerous delays, negotiations are veering further away from any type of reasonable agreement that would contain Iran's nuclear ambitions.

I do not trust this administration as it approaches the reversal of a half century of nuclear nonproliferation policy. As Chairman Royce stated over the weekend: ``The Obama administration's fundamental misread of the Iranian regime is part of what makes this potential agreement so dangerous to our national security.''

The sanctions relief numbers that are being reported now are staggering and would directly undercut years of democratic success. Sanctions are a vital tool when working to keep our citizens and allies out of harm's way.

In dealing with an aggressive state sponsor of terror, there should be no daylight between the position of Republicans and Democrats in Congress, nor Congress with the President or the United States with our allies.

Civilized nations must stand united against the destructive output from rogue regimes like Iran. As it stands now, the reported details of the deal will not dismantle the nuclear ambitions of the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism.

Mr. Speaker, if the past is any indication of the future, we can expect that Iran will continue to employ its stonewalling tactics, blocking any real transparency or inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Why isn't Iran answering questions asked 4 years ago by the International Atomic Energy Agency about their past activities? How can we trust a country that won't answer simple questions or allow scientists to be interviewed? How can we set up a sanctions relief system that is based on trust and verification if the country has proven objectively incapable of trust and transparency?

We certainly cannot continue to overlook Iranian compliance failures as reported this week in The Washington Post, nor come anywhere close to lifting its successfully firm arms embargo. These negotiations will have long-term implications on every country on this planet.

I believe the United States has a responsibility to stand with Israel and other allies across the globe now more than ever. We must ensure our allies know they do not stand alone. With the current negotiations extended once again, it appears that the administration simply wants to get any agreement.

I believe it is a legacy item for the President, Mr. Speaker. This administration's willingness to ignore Iran's troublesome behavior throughout negotiations does not inspire confidence.

President Obama promised 7 years ago that he would not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. He is failing to keep that promise to the American people and the rest of the world, in my opinion.

The stakes are too high. Negotiations are reaching a critical moment as we speak here today. This administration needs to understand one indisputable truth: a bad deal is worse than no deal.

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