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Rep. Bobby Scott Statement on Votes Relating to Iran Nuclear Agreement

Friday, September 11, 2015


I couldn't agree more with this; not sure what's so difficult for the right wingers to understand, other than they will mindlessly oppose anything Barack Obama does.
During the debate this week on the Iran nuclear agreement, House Republicans have offered no rational alternative to the current deal. The chances of getting a better agreement are negligible. Our international negotiating partners have said as much and they have also indicated that international sanctions will fall apart if Congress blocks the President from implementing our obligations under the agreement. And without international sanctions, U.S. sanctions alone will be ineffective to prevent the release of Iranian funds because most of those funds are actually held in foreign banks.So if Congress blocks this agreement, we will not have a better deal, Iran will get sanctions relief, its nuclear program can continue without the restrictions and inspections required under this agreement, and the United States will lose international support for any future efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear program. 
This debate should not have been on what could have or should have been in the agreement, but where the United States and our allies would be with no agreement at all. However imperfect this agreement may be, the fact remains that this agreement gives the United States and our allies a much better chance to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon than no agreement at all.