Country could see whats at stake. The First Amendment that im going to offer up today and hope that we can overcome objections to is pretty straightforward. Heres what the amendment says. It says that the president that no deal can go forward unless the president certifies that the iranian leadership has accepted israels right to exist as a jewish state. Why is that important . Because youre going to hear an argument that this has nothing to do with Nuclear Weapons that this has nothing to do with the Nuclear Capacity of iran. Im going to make the argument that thats not true. The first reason is we have to understand why its important for israel to exist as a jewish state. Israels not just a country, it is a homeland for the jewish people created in the aftermath of the holocaust. With the belief that never again would there not be a place for the jewish people to go and seek refuge and be able to live if they faced persecution as they have for thousands of years as they do even now. But especially in the aftermath of the holocaust. So israels not just a country it has a special and unique purpose that sets it apart from any other nation on earth. It was created as a homeland for a persecuted people who survived despite the death of 6 million human beings in the holocaust maybe more, and now has a homeland where they will be safe. Its also important to remember that beyond that, it is in the National Security interest of the United States because what is israel . His israel is a proamerican Free Enterprise democracy. I promise you that if there were month proamerican Free Enterprise democracies in the middle east, our lives would be a lot simpler and the world would be a lot safer and a lot better. But there is one and this country must always be firmly on the side of that one country. Thats Free Enterprise, proamerican democracy in the midst of a region in chaos and in uncertainty. So why is that relevant to this deal . Heres why its relevant. Because this is not just a deal about what iran is allowed to do in their Nuclear Program. This is a deal that would lift billions of dollars worth of sanctions off of the iranian government. So what is the iranian government going to do when they get access to these billions of dollars . Are they going to donate it to charity around the world to feed the hungry and house the homeless . No. Are they going to use it to substantially improve the rights of their people in their own country . No. Theyre going to use those billions of dollars to do what they are doing now with less money to export terrorism in every corner of the globe. Today iran is an active sponsor of terrorism in lebanon in syria, in iraq in yemen in bahrain in latin america and in europe. This is the same government that tried to assassinate the saudi ambassador here in washington d. C. This is the same iranian government that blew up a Jewish Center in buenos aires. This is the same iranian government that tried to detonate a bomb in uruguay. They use terrorism the way normal countries use diplomacy and now were going to turn over billions of dollars to them . And the reason why it has something to do with israel is, what do you think they are going to do when they have even more money to carry this out . Theyre going to invest it not just in their Nuclear Program theyre going to invest it in their sponsorship of terrorism and theyre going to invest it in their longrange rockets. And what have they told us they want to do with this increased capacity . What have they told us is the chief goal of this government in iran . Why do they need this terrorism . Why do they need these weapons . Why do they need these longrange rockets . Well lets take them at their word. Heres why they need it. They need it because according to the ayatollah in july of 2014 2014 this was a tweet this barbaric wolflike and infanticidal regime of israel which spares no crime has no cure but to be annihilated. In november of 2014 the Supreme Leader on his twitter account he posted a chart. It had nine key questions about the elimination of israel. Im holding it here but you can find it online. Why should the zionist regime be eliminated . What does elimination of israel mean in the viewpoint of the immam . Meaning him. What is the proper way of eliminating israel . Who will the proposed referendum hes talking about a referendum hes actually calling for a referendum in israel. But the jews cant participate in the referendum, according to him. Why do we oppose compromise proposals . The point is, this is a country led by a leader that has made it very clear repeatedly time and again that one of their main objectives is the destruction of israel and ending israels existence as a jewish state. And you know, when someone says that over and over again, we should believe them. This is not for domestic consumption to make him look good in iran the way some in the administration would argue. I believe they mean it. Do you know why i believe they mean it . Because they sponsor terrorism in an effort to kill jews and israelis. In january of 2015 a suitcase full of explosives were found near the Israeli Embassy in uruguay. The day after an individual left a suitcase bomb near the embassy. A Senior Iranian diplomat by the name of imad sabadgol left the country. Authorities clarified a report that he had been expelled from the country. They said, no, they suggested that, in fact, he was a person of high interest with whom they would like to speak but that he left the country on his own. And so the reason why the existence of israel as a jewish state is directly tied to this deal is simple we are about to turn over billions of dollars into their hands and we have every reason to believe that they will spend a significant portion of that money to destroy our strongest and most important ally in the region and one of our most important allies in the world. And so the First Amendment i have offered is pretty straightforward. It calls for any deal to require that iran recognize israels right to exist as a jewish state. The Second Amendment i will propose is even more straightforward even more on point. Heres what it requires. It requires that this final deal be the deal the president says it is. Heres what i mean by that. I filed an amendment that basically took the white houses own fact sheet. And, by the way, i have problems with that fact sheet. The deal as the president describes it is not a deal that i believe will work. Its not a deal that i believe will prevent iran from acquiring a Nuclear Weapon. But just to take them at their word just to improve this point and to ensure that we are building safeguards into what we are doing here i took the white houses own fact sheet what they said the deal was about and i say from this amendment that the final deal must be about those points that the white house already says it is. For the life of me, i dont understand why that would be controversial. My amendment is basically this. It says the deal has to be what you say it is. Thats all my amendment says. And yet somehow ive been told that this is going to box the white house in. If it does, it boxes them in with their own words. But heres the reason im doing this. Because iran apparently negotiated a very different deal than the one the white house thinks we have. For example the white house says that this deal will impose permanent inspections on iran. The state Department Fact sheet quote irans adherence to the Additional Protocol of the iaea is permanent including its significant access and transparency obligations. But the iranian fact sheet says, iran will implement the Additional Protocol on a voluntary and temporary basis for the sake of transparency and confidence building. Doesnt sound like the same deal to me. How about the inspection of military sites . The deputy National Security council, ben rhodes, on an interview on cnn said quote if we see a site that we need to inspect on a military facility we can get access to that site and inspect it. An iranian Brigadier General hussein degan on april 9 said, visiting military centers are among the red lines and no visits to these centers will be allowed. How about the scope of the sanctions relief . The state Department Fact sheet says and i quote the United States and the European UnionNuclear Related sanctions will be suspended. All past u. N. Security Council Resolutions on the iran Nuclear Issues will be lifted simultaneously with the completion by iran of Nuclear Related actions addressing all concerns. But iran says according to their Reach Solutions after the implementation of the comprehensive plan of joint action, all the u. N. Resolutions will be revoked and all the multilateral economic and financial sanctions by the e. U. And the unilateral ones by the u. S. Will be annulled. So are the sanctions limited or total . We say theyre limited. Iran says theyre total. And finally are the sanctions phased well, theres two more let me point three more differences. On the timing of the relief. The United States in the president s News Conference on april 2 this is a quote from the president in return for irans actions the International Community has agreed to provide iran with relief from certain sanctions our own angsz sanctions and sanctions and the International Sanctions imposed by the United NationsSecurity Council. This relief will be phased as iran takes steps to adhere to the deal. The president s basically saying every time iran complies with a portion of the deal an additional sanction will be phased out. It will be in steps. They do something sanctions come off. Slowly. Trust but verify. Thats what the American Government says. Thats what the president said in his own words. But iran says we will not sign any deal unless on the very first day of its implementation all economic sanctions against iran are lifted all at once. How about restrictions on enrichment . Are they restricted for 10 years or for 15 years . The United States and the state Department Fact sheet says iran has agreed not to enrich youre uranium over 6. 37 for at least 15 years. They have agreed not to build any new facilities for the purpose of enriching uranium for 15 years. Iran has agreed to not enrich at certain facilities for 14 years. They have not agreed to enrich uranium at fordhal for 15 years. Thats a lot of 15 years. What does iran say . Well its foreign minister, on an Iranian State df channel on april tv channel on april 4 said the limitations are for 10 years and then enrichment will continue its own scientific progress. We have accepted 10 years of limitations. Last but not least research and development. Is it limited or not limited . 6 the United States the United States in our fact sheet says its limited. Iran will not use ir2, ir4, ir5 i rf6, or ir8 modeled to produce enriched uranium for at least 10 years. Iran will engage limited research and development with advanced centrifuges according to a schedule and parameters which have been agreed to by the p5plus 1 the group that negotiated all of this. Thats what the United States fact sheet says. But what does iran say . Iran says no, iran will continue its research and development on advanced machines and will continue the initiation and completion phases of the research and Development Process of ir4, ir5, ir6, and ir8 during the 10year period of the comprehensive joint plan for action. So these are at least one two, three four, five, six major points of difference where iran is saying, the deal says one thing and the United States says the deal is saying another. And what my amendment does is it takes what we say the deal is and puts it in the bill and says any final deal must be what you told us it is. Not what iran says it is. And yet somehow parntsly thats controversial and yet somehow apparently those controversial. This is not a game. This is a very serious matter. Because this is a country and i mean its people, not its leaders, that have shown the willingness to do atrocious things all over the world. When you read in the up newspaper being gassed and killed in syria, you know why assad is able to do that . Because of the help he gets from iran. When you read about those rockets that flood into televeef tel aviv and jerusalem as hezbollah launches attacks hiding behind human shields while theyre trying to kill israelis, you know what theyre able to do that . Because of the help they get from iran. When you read in the newspaper that yesterday the Iranian Military hijacked a vessel in international waters, when you read that they tried to kill the saudi ambassador in washington d. C. When you read that they tried to set sov off a bomb in uruguay, when you read that in 1994 they did set off a bomb in argentina, this is who were dealing with here, and now they are on the verge of being able to enrich weaponsgrade uranium and reprocess weaponsgrade plutonium, and now they are headed towards building a longrange rocket capable of reaching not just israel but europe and the United States let meal at the you, that is very let me tell you, this is a very significant moment because this president is about to sign a deal that will place in their hands billions and billions of additional dollars and if this is the terrorism and the Nuclear Activity that theyre pursuing now with sanctions on them, imagine how much more they will be able to afford to do once the sanctions are lifted . And thats why it is so relevant on both this point of israel but also on the details of this deal. And, by the way as i said and ill repeat it the state Department Fact sheet what the president says the deal is i am not comfortable with that either. I dont think that will work. Its not like im celebrating what they say the deal s all im asking though, is at a minimum before you bring and sign a deal, at least be what you say it is. Dont come back here in six months and surprise us and say by the way, it was the iranian fact sheet that had it right and not amplest ours. I think these amendments are relevant to the debate ware having. I think they are relevant to the decision were being asked to make. And it is about time that this body takes this up. Congress has an Important Role to play. The people of florida that i represent speak on these issues on this floor through me and the senior senator from florida. We have a right to have these issues debated. But this is not some minor issue that were talking about. This is the security not just of our strongest apply in the rooj in the region, but of our very own country. So i hope we can have an opportunity to have debate on these amendments. What you hear people say is, well if these amendments pass, were going to lose the support of the bill, the president might veto it. Well you know what . If you want to make that argument make that argument. But lets have a vote on it. Whats wrong with having a vote on the amendment . If you disagree with me, stand up and say you disagree and you vote no. If you agree with the amendment but youre going to vote against it because you think it unravels this agreement put in place say that. If you dont want to vote on things dont run for the senate. If you dont want to vote on things dont run for office. Be a come a columnist get a talk show. Everyone who runs for office knows that what we are called to do here is rote on vote on issues that sometimes were uncomfortable on. There is a microphone here on your desk. Come here and explain to the world why you are voting against a deal that requires israel to have a right to exist. If you say that you believe that israel has a right to exist but you are voting gunshot it because you dont want to unravel the deal, people will respect it. You can make your argument, but vote. But dont tell me we cant have votes on these things. You can argue that we shouldnt pass them, and ill argue against you but dont tell me that we cant even vote on it, because then what youre sag is, you want to be protected from taking a position on it. You dont want to take a position that you think is tough. And that i find to be unseineable. Unacceptable. And so mr. President i ask for unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment in order call up the two amendments i just described amendment 1141 and amendment 1148 en bloc. The presiding officer is there objection . Mr. Cardin mr. President reserving the right to object and let me just explain to my friend from florida a very valued member of the Senate ForeignRelations Committee, we have two pending amendments. We have also been working to get a vote on senator barrassos amendment dealing with terrorism. We are trying to work through senator corker and i many amendments that we can clear that members have brought forward. Theyre, working with us where we can consider them. For an orderly process so many amendments have been filed. I might say theyve all been filed by republican mem