WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, spoke on the Senate floor to explain his support for the nuclear agreement reached between Iran, the United States, and our international partners known as the P5+1. The Senate is expected to vote to approve or disapprove the agreement later this week. 

Excerpts from Senator Coons’ remarks:

“Meetings and discussions I have held with ambassadors of our key partners, as well as with leaders in financial policy and foreign policy, have ultimately persuaded me that we are unlikely to be able to reimpose effective multilateral sanctions and renegotiate our way to a better deal if we reject this one.”

“I will support this agreement because it puts us on a known path of limiting Iran’s nuclear program for fifteen years with the full support of the international community. The alternative, I fear, is a scenario of uncertainty and isolation.”

“I am voting for it because it is our most credible opportunity in our current situation to lead a global community in containing a profound nuclear threat while preserving America’s ability in the future to use economic power and military might to successfully dismantle Iran’s nuclear program should diplomacy fail.”

“My support for this agreement also represents a statement about U.S. leadership of an international system based on institutions that we developed following the Second World War to help bring about a rules-based international system of mutual security.” 

Senator Coons’ full remarks:

“Mr. President, I rise to discuss one of the greatest threats that we face today in America, a great threat to our vital ally Israel and to global security – the nuclear weapons ambitions of Iran – and the options that remain before us for blocking those ambitions.

“On July 14, after years of negotiations between the United States, our international partners, and Iran, the Administration reached a comprehensive agreement to freeze and roll back aspects of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from the sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

“Our key partners in imposing and enforcing the sanctions that drove Iran to the negotiating table – the UK, Germany, France, the EU, China, and Russia – also joined in negotiating and ultimately ratifying this deal.

“Thanks to bipartisan legislation that passed this chamber nearly unanimously, Congress is now fulfilling its duty to review this deal under the authority of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

“As a public servant and member of this body, I am grateful for the opportunity to join my colleagues to thoughtfully debate this vital and important issue.

“As a body, we owe that to the American people. As a Senator from Delaware, I owe that to Delawareans to participate in a vigorous debate on an issue with profound and far-reaching consequences not just for our nation, but for the whole global community.

“In preparation for this vote, I have dedicated myself to studying and understanding the content and consequences of the deal. I'm grateful to the bipartisan leadership of Chairman Corker and Ranking Member Cardin in convening more than a dozen hearings of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as classified briefings, to the dozens of experts who came before us both against and in favor of the deal to provide us with analysis and insight, and to the thousands of Delawareans who have reached out to me by phone, by email, by text, in person to express their strongly held views both against and for this agreement.

“Mr. President, like many of my fellow Delawareans and many Americans, I am deeply suspicious of Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. I am also deeply suspicious of Iran’s intentions for its nuclear program, given its long record of cheating on past deals and of consistently expressing virulently anti-American, anti-Semitic, and anti-Israel views.

“Iran is a dangerous regime that is today dangerously close to having enough fissile material to build a nuclear bomb. A nuclear-armed Iran would be a profound threat to our nation’s security and our interests around the world as well as the security of our vital ally Israel and all our partners in the Middle East.

“So Mr. President, in response to these undeniable realities, we have successfully built a global coalition over the past decade united in their determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. They, too, see clearly the threat a nuclear-armed Iran. Bipartisan actions by Congress and the Administration to enact and enforce sanctions have brought us to this point where our major European allies – as well as Russia and China, countries with which we often disagree – have signed off on a comprehensive agreement to roll back and restrain Iran’s nuclear program. Our challenge that we are discussing here on the floor today is whether to move ahead with our partners in this deal, or to turn aside from it and attempt to seek a stronger deal.

“From the day it was announced, this agreement has been sharply criticized by many in Congress and by the leaders of our vital ally Israel. After a close reading of this lengthy and complex agreement, I, too, have deep and persistent concerns about this deal.

“If Iran simply complies with the plain language of this deal, it will first gain tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief that it will likely use to strengthen its support for terrorism and its proxies and rogue regimes, and that will make it more resilient to future sanctions. Most importantly, the deal leaves in place key nuclear facilities and programs that over ten to 15 years or more will allow Iran to develop a large scale uranium enrichment capability that could be used to quickly make material for nuclear weapons if it decides to violate this agreement and the Non Proliferation Treaty.

“To look at those realities and not recognize them as significant challenges or flaws would be to miss the core content of this deal.

“On the other hand, the agreement achieves several critical goals that could not be easily achieved by any other means that freeze or roll back Iran’s nuclear ambitions: 

“To get any sanctions relief, Iran must give up 97 percent of its existing stockpile of 12 tons of enriched uranium. It must disable two thirds of their 19,000 centrifuges, and permanently restructure its heavy water reactor at Arak so it can no longer produce weapons grade plutonium. I have heard no questions or challenges to the technical aspects of these significant accomplishments in the deal. 

“Most importantly in my mind, Iran has agreed to thorough, intrusive, around the clock inspections of all of its declared and known nuclear sites – uranium mines, mills, centrifuge production and uranium enrichment facilities – for 15 years and more. Iran pledges under this agreement to abandon all efforts to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon, and the UN has ratified a unique arrangement under which the U.S. alone is able to reimpose UN sanctions on Iran for cheating on this deal at any point.

“Finally, our own military and intelligence community confirm that the option of military action against Iran remains available at all times, and will only be strengthened by the significant additional intelligence we will likely gain through regular inspections of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

“Mr. President, while many Americans – including thousands in my home state – have expressed strong opinions about this agreement, and while I, too, agree with many criticisms of this deal, none of us know with certainty what will happen if instead Congress rejects this agreement. 

“Will the strength of the U.S. banking system and our unilateral sanctions genuinely be strong enough to force our key allies and Iran back to the negotiating table?

“Is it possible to negotiate a better deal than this, or will the nations that dedicated years along with us to these negotiations now abandon sanctions and proceed without us to implement the deal with Iran – simply isolating us rather than Iran?

“Meetings and discussions I have held with ambassadors of our key partners, as well as with leaders in financial policy and foreign policy, have ultimately persuaded me that we are unlikely to be able to reimpose effective multilateral sanctions and renegotiate our way to a better deal if we reject this one. Don’t just take my word for it, former Secretary of the Treasury Paulson and former Chairman of the Fed Board Volcker have reached the same conclusion publicly and a whole series of private conversations have reinforced my conclusions.

“Last week, I delivered an address at the University of Delaware, my home state, to explain in more detail why I have ultimately decided to support this deal, and today, Mr. President, I am here to speak to my colleagues in the Senate because I believe strongly that this floor must be a place of vigorous, spirited, and honest debate.

“Though nearly every one of my colleagues, in fact probably as of today, all of my colleagues, has made their arguments, announced their positions and decisions, and discussed their conclusions – as I have – in my home state and as many others have with the media, I still believe that we cannot ignore this floor as an important place for debate and discussion.  I think it’s particularly important on an issue that has always in the past garnered such strong and bipartisan support as our nation’s enduring support for Israel.

“So Mr. President, let me be clear about my position and where I stand, I will support this agreement and vote against measures to disapprove it in this Congress. 

“I will support this agreement because it puts us on a known path of limiting Iran’s nuclear program for 15 years with the full support of the international community. The alternative, I fear, is a scenario of uncertainty and isolation. 

“Finally, I will support this agreement despite its significant flaws because it is the better strategy for the United States to lead a coalesced global community in containing the spread of nuclear weapons.

“I support this deal aware of its flaws, and I am committed to working tirelessly with my colleagues to overcome the limitations of the agreement, ensure the security of Israel, and to contain and deter Iran’s ambitions.

“That is why I did not make my final decision to support this deal until I secured, to me valuable, additional commitments from the Administration – including a letter from the President offering specific reassurances across seven different areas, including that our allies and other members of the P5+1 will stick by us in strictly enforcing this deal even as their economic engagements with Iran grow, and that we will continue to aggressively and by all means necessary address Iran’s support for terrorism and its proxies, and that our commitment to Israel’s security will remain unshakeable.

“Moving forward, I hope to work with colleagues to focus on strengthening Israel’s conventional military deterrent against Iran, to vigorously interdicting and countering Iranian support for terrorism and its proxies, to strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty so that in 15 years, Iran leaves one cage—the JCPOA—and enters another—the constraints of an appropriately strengthened and bolstered NPT, and developing a clear and thorough plan with our European allies for active enforcement to enact a policy of zero tolerance of Iranian cheating on the agreement. 

“There are few votes in the Senate that will have as much consequence to the security of the United States and Israel as this one.

“I am voting to support this agreement not because I think it’s perfect, or because I believe it is a perfect mechanism to end nuclear proliferation.

“I am voting for it because it is our most credible opportunity in our current situation to lead a global community in containing a profound nuclear threat while preserving America’s ability in the future to use economic power and military might to successfully dismantle Iran’s nuclear program should diplomacy fail. 

“My support for this agreement also represents a statement about U.S. leadership of an international system based on institutions that we developed following the Second World War to help bring about a rules-based international system of mutual security. 

“The United Nations and the IAEA were established following the great conflict of the Second World War to help prevent the spread of the threat of nuclear war.  We, the United States, helped lead the establishment of these institutions just as we have led the international community to reach this deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.  While neither our current international system nor this deal with Iran are perfect, they represent the collective will of our international partners and a vision for America’s place in the world for which I will fight.  While we reserve the right to use force if necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, we should uphold the international system that we helped create, and to do so, we should support this deal.  The legitimacy of this order is yet another reason we must ensure adequate oversight and verification of the nuclear deal because its failure will be a blow to the international system which gave it birth.  

“In closing, Mr. President, scripture offers us many stories from Genesis to Deuteronomy to Isaiah and the Gospels in which we are encouraged to pursue diplomacy before resorting to conflict. My support of this agreement in no small part is an attempt to heed that advice. We cannot trust Iran, but this deal, based on distrust, verification, deterrence, and strong, multilateral diplomacy ultimately I’ve concluded offers us our best opportunity to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

“I support this deal with my eyes wide open, aware of the its flaws as well as its potential, and I will remain committed to working with my colleagues to minimizing the negative consequences and ensure we reap the maximum benefits of this agreement.”