On the recordSeptember 17, 2015
I rise to speak today about President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. I have now cast multiple votes to proceed to an up-or-down vote on this nuclear deal. However, according to President Obama and his administration, Congress's review period ends today, even though there is still controversy about that. I want to applaud the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee and the chairman--the ranking member, Senator Cardin, who is here today, and Senator Corker--for getting us to this point. In a unanimous vote in our committee, we got this bill, brought it to the Senate, and we had a 98-to-1 vote in a bipartisan effort to bring this before the American people. Today, we are here with a very small minority of Americans who actually support this deal. This administration chose not to consider this as a treaty but as a nonbinding political agreement. That means in a little over a year, our next President can determine whether he or she will abide by this deal with Iran. My question is this: What can we do now--right now--in the Senate, over the next 14 months, to continue to fight this President's nuclear deal with Iran? I speak today to confirm that I will continue this fight, individually, if necessary. In the next 14 months I am committed to finding ways we can mitigate the effects of this dangerous deal with Iran. We need to ratchet up sanctions on Iran for terrorism and human rights violations and continue to be vigilant in both of those areas.…
