E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 114 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 161 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 No. 134 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was Reverend Murray currently serves in deal with Iran, because the President called to order by the President pro our Nation’s Capital as the 20th senior did everything possible to cut the tempore (Mr. HATCH). pastor of the Georgetown Presbyterian American people out and to block their f Church. The church was founded in elected representatives from having a 1780, and Reverend Murray is the first say. PRAYER woman pastor. He refused a treaty, because as Sec- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. To- Reverend Murray grew up in my retary Kerry noted quite candidly, he day’s opening prayer will be offered by home State, in Mahtomedi, MN. She wasn’t interested in negotiating some- the Reverend Camille Murray, pastor holds degrees from Vanderbilt Univer- thing an elected Congress could sup- of Georgetown Presbyterian Church. sity, Princeton Theological Seminary, port. He then had to be persuaded that The guest Chaplain offered the fol- Oxford University, and Wesley Semi- resisting legislation to allow Congress lowing prayer: nary. an up-or-down vote on it—just as he Let us pray. Reverend Murray’s congregation is had to be persuaded when Congress Eternal God, we give You thanks for nonpartisan, with the belief that God passed sanctions legislation that the many provisions of this day and for transcends that which divides us. helped bring Iran to the table in the the simple and sustaining gifts which We are so happy that she led us today first place—would be futile. In other enrich our lives. We thank You for the in prayer. words, he didn’t want the legislation beauty and bounty of this great Na- Thank you very much. that gave us an opportunity to respond tion. We offer You praise for the herit- to the President’s deal with Iran. It age we share, the faith we cherish, and f had so many supporters, he knew the the freedoms we enjoy. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY veto would be overridden. Then he fi- As Your grateful people, we ask that LEADER nally convinced his party, which had voted unanimously for the legislation You would remind us of the callings The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ma- that gave Congress an opportunity to You have placed upon our lives. We jority leader is recognized. pray that we would be faithful to those weigh in on the President’s deal, to callings and to those entrusted to our f then deny the American people the up- care. May those elected to lead be NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WITH IRAN or-down congressional vote Democrats given a double portion of Your Spirit, had promised. Our Democratic friends Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, the went to extreme lengths to protect the that they may have vision and wisdom Democrats have chosen to deny the President politically. Because they did, from above. Senate a final vote on the President’s Gracious God, keep us pure in Democrats ensured that this would be deal with Iran. They made their choice, thought, honest in speech, and diligent not just Obama’s deal with Iran but the but that doesn’t mean the discussion is in our pursuit of the common good, all Democratic Party’s deal with Iran too. over. for the glory of Your Holy Name. It is a deal that allows Iran to grow Today we will have another oppor- Amen. stronger in any number of ways: dip- tunity to address the lifting of congres- f lomatically, militarily, in terms of sionally mandated sanctions as called trade, and in terms of its enrichment PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE for in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of program. It is also a deal that achieves The President pro tempore led the Action. Today we will have an oppor- hardly any of the Obama administra- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: tunity to vote on a question of policy: tion’s primary goals. Secretary Kerry I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the Should Iran be left with a threshold once declared that an accounting of United States of America, and to the Repub- nuclear program, one now recognized Iran’s military-related nuclear activi- lic for which it stands, one nation under God, by the P5+1, and receive billions of dol- ties ‘‘will be part of a final’’ deal. ‘‘If indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. lars in sanctions relief without any there is going to be a deal,’’ he prom- The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. linkage whatsoever to other aspects of ised, ‘‘it will be done.’’ But it isn’t. ROUNDS). The Senator from Minnesota. its foreign policy adventurism. That is Secretary Moniz once declared that f the question before us. he expected we would have anytime, I will discuss that vote in greater de- anywhere access to Iranian nuclear fa- WELCOMING THE GUEST tail in just a moment but first a re- cilities. We will not. CHAPLAIN minder of how we got to this point. President Obama once declared that Mr. FRANKEN. Mr. President, I want Here is what we know about the nu- ‘‘the deal we’ll accept is they end their to thank Camille Murray for our open- clear deal with Iran. It is President nuclear program—it’s very straight- ing prayer this morning. Obama’s deal with Iran, not America’s forward’’—or perhaps not quite so ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S6773 . VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:00 Sep 18, 2015 Jkt 049060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A17SE6.000 S17SEPT1 SSpencer on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with SENATE S6774 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE September 17, 2015 straightforward because this deal will was accounted, the commander of broader Iranian deal. But at the very not end Iran’s nuclear program. Iran’s Quds Force reportedly flew to least, at the very least, we should be Because the President made clear his Moscow to secure Russian support for able to come together over the vote we desire to secure an agreement at any their mutual ally in Syria. No surprise will take today. So I would urge all of cost, it became easy for the Iranians to then that as soon as the President had my colleagues to vote for it. exploit concession after concession seemingly succeeded in securing the f after concession. It became possible for votes for a veto override, we heard that the world’s leading state sponsor of Russia was constructing a forward op- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY terrorism to secure a deal that allows erating base to help prop up Assad. LEADER it to enrich uranium, to maintain Iran’s negotiating partner, Russia, will The PRESIDING OFFICER. The thousands of centrifuges, and to be- undoubtedly use its presence in Syria Democratic leader is recognized. come a recognized nuclear-threshold to attempt to leverage the Western f state, forever on the edge of developing powers to weaken sanctions crafted in a weapon. Iran was even able to secure response to the invasion of Crimea. NUCLEAR AGREEMENT WITH IRAN a multibillion-dollar cash windfall that That, my colleagues, is diplomatic AND GOVERNMENT FUNDING will allow it to strengthen terrorist linkage. Russia pursued it successfully; Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senate groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, the Obama administration did not. has already spoken and made it abso- along with Assad’s bloody regime in The administration attempted to ne- lutely clear that the agreement with Damascus—even the President basi- gotiate this deal with a singular focus Iran will stand. Remember, an agree- cally admits as much. on ending Iran’s nuclear program. Now ment to stop Iran from having a nu- The administration is now so in- we already know it failed in that re- clear weapon is what it is all about. vested in this deal that it is likely to gard, but that myopia also has other The issue has been decided. Instead of veto any additional sanctions passed consequences as well, leading the ad- focusing on the critical issue of funding by Congress, even those against ter- ministration to ignore many issues our government, Senator MCCONNELL rorism. that should have been linked to the ne- has decided to waste an entire week on Presidents are able to secure strong- gotiations in the first place—every- something that has already been de- er, better, and more durable outcomes thing from Iran’s support for terrorism cided, twice. when they seek constructive coopera- to its aggressive behavior across the First, we are voting on the McCon- tion on matters beyond the water’s Middle East, to its harassment of ship- nell amendment, which would keep the edge. ping vessels in the Persian Gulf—but President from being able to suspend or Republicans stood proudly for more not just those issues. The administra- waive sanctions on Iran unless Iran international trade jobs just a few tion failed to negotiate to ensure the frees all Americans and formally recog- months ago. The President agreed with release of American citizens being held nizes the State of Israel. All Senators, us on the policy. We all fought in the in Iranian custody. The administration Democrats and Republicans, want all same corner as a result. It was dis- failed to negotiate to ensure Iran’s rec- the Americans held by Iran or who appointing to then hear the same ognition of Israel’s right to exist.