Sanctions is about pushing toward a deal, but we would like for it to pass muster.

There is no question that our Nation and the P5 together would not be where we are today had the two of you not led in putting in place a sanctions regime that most of us here have been involved in.

What we would like to do is vote.

We have concerns about the limited access that we have to what Iran is doing.

As a matter of fact, as Joe Donnelly mentioned, we were in the Middle East last week, and the concerns are that Iran is here and the United States and its friends have been here.

I, too, want to welcome the new Members. I have found this to be one of the most outstanding committees in the U.S. Senate.

I think that some of the things that Senator Menendez has laid out really do bear tremendous scrutiny.

Democracy is messy. And that is the thing.

I think the agreement is off to a really terrible start.

Instead of consequences, Iran got what they wanted.

Can anyone here point to any substantive consequences that Iran has faced?

I really believe that this committee has caused its profile to rise.

We have passed a number of very important pieces of legislation out of this committee.

I assure you that I was not consulted.

the deal is being implemented at present.

U.S. leadership in the Middle East is critically important.

One reason that I opposed the nuclear deal with Iran was that I feared it would end up being our de facto Middle East policy.

this is still an anti-American, anti-Semitic revolutionary regime that has cultivated a network of proxies to challenge stable governments in the region

I am concerned about the leverage we have given up but, like others here, want to continue to understand whether we achieve that goal or not.

I know Senator Menendez has made a strong point about this--that that itself would be a violation.

Obviously, in order to cast this vote responsibly we have to answer the fundamental question, does this deal achieve our key objective of keeping Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon?

we all support the goal of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.

This hearing is the fifth in a series of six events we are holding this month to prepare members of the committee to evaluate a possible nuclear agreement with Iran.

I plan to conduct myself in a way, again, that we do not harden ourselves against each other prior to the first of the year.

So I will say there are some members of this committee that believe otherwise, and believe that the best way we can be effective in making ourselves relevant is just to pass legislation that makes what you are doing legal, and somehow that…