Ted Deutch: “I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this week we approach the 1-year anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive…”

“I thank my friend for yielding. Mr. Speaker, this week we approach the 1-year anniversary of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the JCPOA, the agreement negotiated by the P5+1 countries over Iran's illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons. One year later, Iran remains far outside the community of responsible countries. Iran continues to sponsor terrorism around the region. It funds and supports the murderous Assad regime. It spouts anti-Semitic and anti-Israel vitriol. It foments unrest in other countries. It denies basic human rights to its citizens, and it unlawfully detains American citizens. Iran has still not returned my constituent, Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran in 2007 and is now the longest-held American hostage. My friends on the other side of the aisle know that, and I commend Chairman Royce for his diligence in looking for ways to strengthen our sanctions regime and to vigilantly enforce the Iran nuclear deal in order to keep the pressure on Iran. Iran's subversive actions have not relented despite the agreement. Iran has explicitly and repeatedly violated U.N. Security Council resolutions by testing its ballistic missile technology, weapons capable of delivering nuclear warheads. In addition, recent intelligence reports from Germany expose that Iran sought technology related to the development of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. So there is a lot that needs to be done to keep the pressure on Iran.…”