David Price: “I thank my colleague. I rise in strong opposition to this deeply misguided legislation. Reports from international…”

“I thank my colleague. I rise in strong opposition to this deeply misguided legislation. Reports from international experts, nuclear watchdogs, and representatives of our international coalition make clear that Iran is on its way to fully dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Breakout times at this moment have already been tripled and quadrupled. We need to understand, just because the JCPOA does not deal with all of Iran's abuses doesn't mean that we shouldn't solve the nuclear issue. We have already had that debate. Iran is still a state sponsor of terrorism, and the proposed expansion of its ballistic missile program is particularly troubling. These issues must be addressed. But a nuclear-armed Iran would only make these abuses more dangerous, and it would be wildly foolish to suggest that we must forego our only real opportunity to keep a nuclear weapon out of the regime's hands just because these ancillary issues remain. This bill would do exactly that. It would scuttle the JCPOA, the result of years of international negotiation and diplomacy in cooperation with our international partners. Absent the nuclear agreement, Iran could resume its nuclear program without international oversight, could go back to that 3-month breakout time, and, by the way, continue the state sponsorship of terrorism, continue its human rights abuses, and continue its ballistic missile expansion.…”