Transcripts For CSPAN House Session 20150415 : vimarsana.com

Bookseller. The white house reached a compromise with Congress Today over the Iran Nuclear Program framework. The new iran bill, better but still risky. He outlined the bill. The. To implement sanctions has been cut from 60 days to 30. Under the framework, he said the administration would report to Congress Every 90 days and observe the ultimate congressional approval vote on the bill itself. You can read more at Washington Post. Com. Next up, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee markup of the iran Nuclear Framework. It is one hour and 15 minutes. [no audio] senator corker this business meeting will come to order. The only order of Business Today is s615 the iranian act of 2015. I want to start by thanking all the members of the committee for the tremendous amount of work that they have done over several months to get us to the place that we are. And in any piece of legislation, obviously, there are things that members would like to see different, but i think we have reached a balance here that is very, very appropriate. I want to thank former chairman and former Ranking Member senator bob menendez for his tremendous efforts on all things iran and certainly this piece of legislation. I cant imagine a member being more constructive and i want to say that for me, today, what may a core what may occur is the true reemergence of the Foreign Relations committee becoming more than just a debating society but a committee that takes up the significant work that we have before us around the world. And i want to say again to our former chairman and former Ranking Member, there is no question that over the last two years, you have helped bring us to this point where instead of debating things, we in fact may well be taking up important legislation that will have a Significant Impact on the security of the middle east and of our citizens. I want to thank tim kaine for his incredible effort. Tim is someone who understands truly the role of the United States senate and issues of significance that has been a stalwart to articulate more clearly than anyone else why it is important for us to take the role that i hope this legislation today will allow us to take. And then to Ranking Member cardin, i dont know how many times we have talked over the phone over the last several days. I cant thank you enough for your temperament, for your tone for your seriousness on a very very important issue and i look forward to working with you on other significant issues but today, to be where we are is a testament to the type of senator you came here to be and i want to thank you for that. Lets set the stage. In spite of what may be being said by buildings down the street on the other end of pennsylvania, this legislation is exactly the congressional review that we have been working on from day one. I want to thank everyone here for allowing this legislation to be in the form that it is in today, with 100 of the integrity that we had hoped would be a part of this process embodied in this piece of legislation. What this legislation does, i think everyone understands that these Iran Nuclear Negotiations are incredibly important to the citizens we represent. I think everyone would want to see an agreement that ensures arrondissement get a Nuclear Weapon. Ensures iran does not get a Nuclear Weapon. They are passed numerous pieces of legislation that many give credit for bringing iran to the negotiating table. Congress prevailed and the sanctions that we have put into place are the sanctions that have brought the iranian economy down certainly a great deal. It certainly cause the inflation and the destabilizing affect that cause them to want to be at the negotiating table. What we have before us today is a bill that forces the administration, before they are able to lift the sanctions that we collectively put in place that brought them to the table it forces the administration to bring to us every detail if there happens to be a final agreement. Every detail. We have left time frames in here, we work through with a parliamentarian to make sure the procedures are appropriate. Then and i will have a colloquy in a minute to further confirm that. It means that these sanctions that have been put into place by this body cannot be lifted without the administration bringing to us every detail of the deal. Then the clock will start and there will be a. Of time there will be a period of time where congress will be able to debate and decide whether it want to move ahead with a resolution of approval or a resolution of disapproval. During that time, no congressionally mandated sanctions can be lifted. After that process is over there is a third process it is very important. I think everybody understands what has happened in north korea, where arrangements were made but there was no follow through. A very important aspect of the third like to this agreement is that Congress Stays involved if an agreement is reached. And if one is not disapproved Congress Stays involved. Every 90 days, the administration has to certify that in every way the regime is compliant. And if there is a violation they have to give that to congress so we have an ability to quickly reapply the sanctions. I think this puts congress in its rightful role. People should know, and i think everyone understands the sanctions being negotiated are the Nuclear Sanctions only. The sanctions relative to Ballistic Missile testing, they stay in place. The sanctions relative to terrorism, they stay in place. The sanctions relative to human rights, they stay in place. Today we are only focused on the nuclear peace. But if over the time the sanctions are lifted because a deal is approved in congress chooses not to disapprove it, i would say to everyone here, this bill gives us more of more reporting on terrorism than we have ever had more reporting on Ballistic Missile testing than we have ever had, more reporting on human rights than we have ever had. We will have that entire arsenal of sanctions that we put in place since 2010 to reapply in those areas if we feel that ron is again doing things that is not in our national interests. I want to thank again the Ranking Member and everybody who has worked with us in this regard. Many people may have opening comments, but it has been a true pleasure to work with senator cardin and others, for us to be in the place that we are with the entire integrity of the congressional review process that we started with staying in place. And with that, i will turn it over to our Ranking Member who worked with us to get it into place and i hope Many Democrats will be willing to join in. He did so toughly but with a temperament that allowed us to move along in a very productive way. Senator cardin senator corker thank you very much. I want to agree with you in the role that senator menendez has played. The congressional review of the iranian reports that we hope will be presented in june. Senator menendez enjoys the strong thanks for the incredible leadership he has given in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as its chairman and as Ranking Member. I am honored to be the Ranking Member. I did not want to become Ranking Member under these circumstances and i hope that the menendezs senator menendezs issues will be revolved result quickly. I represent the democratic members, but in a broader sense i think we both represent all the members of the senate in bringing as much unity as we can to Foreign Policy in this country. I look forward to working for you working with you in that regard. It is clear to me that there is a strong common commitment in the congress of the United States and the white house, to make sure that iran never becomes a Nuclear Weapon state. That is our objective. That is a game changer for the middle east and something we cannot allow to occur. I think we all agree that the preferred course to achieve that objective is through diplomatic means. The negotiations taking place with a strong agreement that would prevent iran from becoming a nuclear state. Such an agreement would have to provide ample time for iran to break out to a Nuclear Weapon so that if they do not comply we can know about those breaches and take action. Bottom line is there is no disagreement in this committee or in the congress that we cannot trust iran and that the agreement has to be able to ensure that iran does not become a Nuclear Weapon state. I start by saying thank you to senator corker and thank you to senator menendez and thank you to senator cain senator kaine. The bill that we are working on today provided a way that congress could review any agreement reached between our negotiating partners in iran with regards to Nuclear Weapons. Secondly, it provided a means that we could get timely notice in the event that there was a material breach so that congress could take appropriate action. Those two principles were in the original bill and they are still there today and i agree completely with those purposes and said so well before the hearings. I am pleased we were able to negotiate a package that has broad support and input from many members of this committee and i want to thank members on both sides of the aisle for their input into the matters of this amendment. It reflects, i think, the best thoughts of all the members of the committee. It provides the best framework for congressional review and potential action. Mr. Chairman, i just want to go over some language that is in the amendment will stop the amendment. The sanctions regime put in by congress is primarily responsible to bringing the Iranian Regime to the table. These are critical for the National Security and Foreign Policy for the United States and its allies. This legislation does not require a vote for legislation to commence. Approval or disapproval of no actions under an agreement. I want to point that out because people have asked why we are involved here. We have to be involved here because only congress can currently change or modify the sanctions regime which is clearly part of what the president is negotiating in regards to the Iran Nuclear Program. Secondly, let me point out that the amendment has the appropriate role for congress in regards to when we get the agreement and how we act on it. It is clear that we will only act if the administration has presented to us an agreement. That is when the clock starts will stop clock starts. We will go into the timeframe in a moment, that on the assumption that we will get it through on time, there is a 30 day review. 30 day review period. That gives congress ample time to decide on action. We dont know if there will be no action, there will be a resolution on sanctions. All of that is possible. There will be no action prior to receiving the agreement. It is also very clear that the april 2 framework is not part of that type of a review process. The 30 days could be extended if there was action taken that required president ial approval during that. Of the president ial review during that period of the president ial review. No one can anticipate where we will end up on this but it basically is a 30 day review process. I want to thank the chairman because we got into a big debate and we may have an amendment being offered on this. We have eliminated from the original draft certain president ial certifications that were not related to the iranian negotiations. I think that was the right thing to do. This is a complicated enough agreement. We will not be able to solve all the problems with iran. If we can stop iran from becoming a nuclear state, that is the purpose of this agreement. Did they have other issues with the International Community end us, you bet they do. I ask my colleagues to take a look at the managers amendment because we have strengthened getting adequate information about their terrorist activities in violation of human rights that we have that information and can use that information as we see fit. I believe the managers amendment stresses this bill stretches this bill but does it in the right way without interfering. In fact, i would suggest that this bill strengthens the president s ability to negotiate in regards to the Nuclear Framework itself. Lastly, i think there is an amendment that is offered that makes it clear that the security of israel and the survival of israel is clearly paramount, one of the paramount goals, and i agree with that completely. I think senator rubio i think senator rubio and senator boxer for their leadership on that issue. I want to thank senator coons for his help on shortening the. And senator shaheen on how we put this together. I think this is a proud moment if we can get this type of legislation. I think it is the right thing not only for congress but for the American People. And mr. Chairman, if i might, i just want to make one point on some of the new tax in the manager substitute amendment which is been agreed to between senator corker and myself. The original bill mandated a 60 day. Congressional review during which time the president would not be able to provide statutory sanctions relief. In the new text, if the sanction is committed by july 10, there would be a 60 day period. It provides for a further 12 days for the president to consider a veto of the resolution of disapproval and 10 days for congress to consider overriding a veto. The tenday. Would begin the day of president ial veto. Senator corker that is actually my understanding and i think it is your understanding that the timeclock only begins with the president submits all of the materials including all of the classified annexes that the public will never see but is important for us to see prior to any section relief. Senator coons you are senator cardin you are correct. Senator corker entity submits after that. Of time, all of our members should know that because of the way congress doesnt function during the day of august, there is a 60 day process that we revert back to. That is our understanding and certainly it is spelled that way in the managers amendment, but i want to make sure that we have an agreement. At this moment, i really think it is important or senator menendez, who has been such a champion, not only on this piece of legislation, but regarding our mutual concerns with iran. I would like to call on him to make some opening comments. Senator menendez thank you mr. Chairman. Let me thank you for your gracious remarks and i appreciate having worked with you on the legislation and your consultations with me on changes to the legislation which i support. I think this continuation of the bipartisanship that i try to set out when i had the privilege of chairing the committee rises to the high calling of what the United States senate is all about. It particularly opposes significant particularly shows the significance of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. I want to thank senator cardin the Ranking Member, it is incredibly hard work in perfecting the legislation that brings us to what i hope will be a broad, strong, bipartisan vote. And i cant become anyone better to take my place during this interim. During this interim period. And i want to thank senator kaine. In my view, the way to send a message to iran about our feelings is to pass the corkermenendez act. It underscores congresses Critical Role in one of the highest priority National Security, Nuclear Nonproliferation challenges of our time. The fact is that the p5 1 and iran achieve an agreement by the june deadline, Congress Must have Oversight Committee oversight ability. This bill establishes a framework for congressional oversight. I differentiate this agreement and others that the ministers has excited has cited for exclusive executive action the cause of the mandated sanctions that are law. As the author of the sanctions working with this working with others on this committee and beyond, i can tell you that we never envisioned a wholesale waiver of those sanctions without congressional input and action. My goal is one goal, and that is to make sure that iran does not have the infrastructure to develop a Nuclear Weapon. The best way to achieve that goal is with bipartisan support that strengthens the United Stateshand and sets out expectations for iranian compliance. Lets send a message to iran that sanctions relief is not a given and not a prize to signing on the dotted line. Iran must comply with all parts of the agreement. I have many questions about the framework agreement, including but not limited to the divergent understanding of the agreement the difference in what iran can do in research on advanced centrifuges, the timing and pacing of sanctions relief, the ability to bring back sanctions if there are violations, the ability to address the military dimens