Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. DAINES. Madam President, as we speak, negotiations are ongoing between Iran and the P5+1 countries regarding one of the greatest threats to global security today; that is, a potentially nuclear-capable Iran. If both sides reach a final negotiated agreement, this body will have to consider whether the agreement truly prevents Iran from becoming a nuclear state or whether it paves the way for the leading state sponsor of terror to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Agreeing to a bad deal would pose a serious threat to the national security of the United States, to Israel, and our other allies. We cannot take this decision lightly. We should not base our votes on the legacy of the President. We will be dealing with the consequences of this potential agreement long after President Obama leaves office.

There are specific terms of any final agreement that are vital to preventing Iran's nuclear weapons capability. One-hundred percent certainty is impossible in matters of intelligence, particularly with a regime like Iran's that has a history of being less than forthright about its nuclear program. In fact, on June 21, the Iranian Parliament voted to bar inspectors from military sites. As they were passing this resolution to bar inspectors from military sites, they were chanting ``Death to America.''

Let's not forget that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism in the world. It is critical that the International Atomic Energy Agency be able to conduct extensive inspections at all military facilities, including unannounced inspections, to ensure that Iran is upholding its commitments.

A final deal must ensure that we have verifiable evidence that Iran is complying with the terms of the agreement before lifting sanctions. A final deal must permit international inspection to occur anytime, anywhere. A final deal must require Iran to disclose and dismantle its nuclear infrastructure, its uranium stockpile, and all other aspects of its nuclear program as specified in six--let me repeat--six U.N. Security Council resolutions.

A final deal must ensure Iranians never get a nuclear weapon. If Iran does violate these terms, the deal must guarantee that strong sanctions go back into place immediately. It took years to get in place the sanctions we have today. It was largely because of these sanctions that Iran was forced to come to the negotiating table. The sanctions are working. I would also like to address the notion that we either come to a deal or we resort to military action. This is a false choice. In fact, accepting a bad deal now will make military action more likely down the road. A bad deal will provide Iran with an influx of cash to continue sponsoring terrorism around the world, while failing to prevent them from ultimately obtaining a nuclear weapon when this deal expires.

Like so many Montanans I have heard from, I truly hope negotiations are successful. However, I am concerned the that based on the framework agreement that we have seen so far, the final agreement will ultimately fail to safeguard our national security and prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. No deal is better than a bad deal. If the final agreement the President presents falls short of the requirements I have talked about today, I will not support it.

Over the past month, we have now blown through four deadlines. It is starting to look like Groundhog Day in Vienna.

SAFE KIDS ACT

Madam President, on a separate note, this past week the Senate began debating legislation about our Nation's educational system. In the same week, we learned more about a major data breach at the Office of Personnel Management, which put more than 21 million American's personnel information at risk. Those events and the policy debates bring to light an issue that often does not gather a lot of information; that is, protecting our student's personal information and data in the digital age.

As a father of four, this issue is particularly personal to me. To date, countless schools across the United States utilize electronic records to update student information and transfer data from one school to another. But as the data is collected, it is important students' privacy is maintained and that the data is being stored safely and securely. In 2014, a working group was formed to address the issue of student data privacy. This group produced the Student Data Privacy Pledge, which intended to set self-imposed principles to ensure that information collected from students is kept both secure as well as private.

This week, I will be introducing legislation called the SAFE KIDS Act, that builds on these ideas by empowering the Federal Trade Commission to oversee and enforce the collection, storage, and usage of covered information. This bill will put important reforms in place to protect students privacy, to establish greater security and transparency measures, and to encourage innovation among education technology providers, and better ensure accountability in keeping our students' information safe.

As someone who spent more than 12 years in the technology sector, I am excited to see technology being used in innovative ways in our schools. As a father of four, I also want to ensure that there are proper safeguards in place to protect our kids' personal data in an increasingly data-driven world.

I also want to thank Senator Blumenthal for joining me this week to introduce this important legislation to protect students' personal information and for his continued work on this issue. With that in mind, I will yield the floor so we can hear more from Senator Blumenthal on this most important issue.

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