Every Child Achieves Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. KING. ``Fellow-citizens, we cannot escape history. We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass, will light us down, in honor or dishonor, to the latest generation.'' That was Abraham Lincoln in a message to Congress on December 1, 1862. I think his words echo today as we talk about the serious and solemn issues before us and the one that will be coming up within 60 days, the consideration of the agreement with Iran.

We are embarked on a historic process, a process that will result in one of the most important votes that any of us will ever take in this body, a vote that entails risks of war and peace, of life and death, of relationships in the Middle East and throughout the world.

I have been thinking in the last 24 hours about how to approach this decision, and I would like to share that today. This is a solemn responsibility. The first step for this Senator is to read the agreement word for word and to note in the margins the questions, data, and analysis that we think we need in order to make this decision. That is No. 1.

No. 2 is to seek expertise, to reach outside of this body to people in the nuclear field--one literally needs to be a nuclear physicist to understand some parts of this agreement--to arms inspection people, to economists, to foreign policy experts. I hope and expect this will happen in hearings before the Foreign Relations Committee and other committees of this Senate, but it is also incumbent upon us as individuals to reach out and to try to gain as much knowledge and expertise in the facts of this agreement as we possibly can.

Then I think we need to debate--to really debate with the Senators here in the Chamber, face to face. Our legal system is based upon the principle of an adversarial system where truth emerges from the fire of argument. And I believe that is something we owe the American people, not the strange debate we have where one person comes and speaks to an empty Chamber and then another person comes and speaks to an empty Chamber. I think this is an occasion where Senators should confront one another with their best arguments, their best facts, and listen to one another and make their decisions based upon what they learn and what they hear.

Of course, the context of the decision is important. We must consider the alternatives. What happens if we don't accept this agreement? What happens if we do? No agreement like this can be judged solely in isolation; it has to be viewed in terms of what are the alternatives. What if nothing happens? What does Iran do then? What are the relationships in the Middle East? What is Iran's path to a bomb if this agreement is not approved?

Mr. President, I did not plan to come to the floor today, but I am here because I have been shocked and, frankly, surprised at the outpouring of reaction from people who haven't read the agreement, who haven't studied the implications, who haven't gained the facts. To denounce an agreement or a deal before the ink is even dry strikes me as an abdication of our responsibility.

My message today is, let's slow down and take a deep breath. Let's listen to one another. Let's gain the facts.

I have not yet made my decision. And I commend that position to my colleagues. This is too important to become just another political issue. Even though we are headed into a Presidential year, even though there are partisan differences, even though there are differences with this President, this is a historic vote and it is a solemn responsibility. We owe our constituents, we owe the people of our States and America a close reading of the facts, a balanced weighing of the alternatives, and our best judgment. That is what the people of Maine expect of this Senator, and I believe that is what the people of America expect of us.

The Senate has an extraordinary opportunity to regain its place in this country as the world's greatest deliberative body, and that means we have to deliberate and listen and learn the facts, and that is how we should approach this momentous decision.

History will judge us. History will judge us not only on our ultimate decision but how we reached it, how we wrestled with the facts and the alternatives and the consequences, and how we made this decision that will have long-term implications for this country, for the Middle East, for our allies, and for the world.

Mr. President, I have confidence in this institution. I have confidence that we can make this decision in a thoughtful, deliberative, and consciously deliberate way to reach a conclusion that is in the best interests of the people of America.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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