FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Contact: Amanda Maddox, 202-224-7777
Marie Gordon, 770-661-0999
Isakson Urges Colleagues to Join Him in Rejecting Iran Deal
‘A vote against the Iran deal is a vote of strength’
WASHINGTON
– U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., a member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, today kicked off the debate
on the Senate floor regarding President Obama’s nuclear agreement with
Iran and urged his colleagues to join him in rejecting the deal.
In his speech, Isakson highlighted the
gravity of the coming vote on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,
and he took exception to President Obama’s assertion that a vote against
the nuclear deal
is a vote for war. Additionally, Isakson expressed his outrage that the
president has not submitted the side
agreements between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and
Iran to Congress for review. He argued that the
“anytime, anywhere” inspections that were promised by the
administration to be a prerequisite to any agreement had been tossed
aside, rendering the agreement unenforceable.
Finally, Isakson argued
that Democrats in the Senate would be obstructing democracy if they
attempt to block a full Senate vote on the president’s agreement with
Iran. The American
people deserve to know where their Senators stand, Isakson said.
Excerpts from Isakson’s floor speech are below.
Importance of the vote:
“I will begin today the debate of the most consequential
vote I will ever take as an elected official. Certainly in my 41 years
of public service, I have never had a decision to make as serious, as
complex, and as meaningful
as the decision we will make on the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the
administration and the president. I rise in my opposition to
that agreement and to explain why I will vote against it.”
A vote against this deal is a vote for strength:
“…A vote against [the president’s deal with Iran] is a vote of strength,”
he argued. “A vote for this deal is an appeasement of the Iranian regime,
to the Iranian ayatollah, and to a group of people who have not
been trustworthy
in negotiations with our country for the past 40 years. … [To support
this agreement would be] a vote against strength and for appeasement
when in fact, there has never been a time more important for the United
States of America to be strong than today. …Bodies
of young Syrian children are washing up on the shore of
the Mediterranean. The Russians have established a beachhead in Crimea,
Ukraine and now in the Arctic. Last week our president went to Alaska
and the Chinese sent five ships off the coast just to wave the
Chinese flag in the face of our president.”
Side agreements:
“I have not seen all
the documents and we’ve now found out we never will see all of them
because the addendums of the IAEA will not be available to us as members
of the Senate.”
Lack of “anytime, anywhere” inspections:
“Can we have inspections? Well, yes, you can have inspections, kind
of, or sort of. Yes, you get 24 hours notice, then you get 24 days to
approve. But then the Iranians will have say over who gets to inspect,
and we do not have a part of that. That is not
a fair deal. This [deal] can be cheated on too easily. That is far too
easy for the American people and for the security of my children and
grandchildren.”
Future generations and preventing Iran from gaining nuclear weapons:
“What about my children
and grandchildren? Why are they of interest to me in this vote? Because
they are our future. The young people of today will run these countries
in the years ahead,
unless there is a rogue nation with nuclear weapons that could
disrupt the world balance of power. That’s just what the Iranians are
capable of being.
“I want to make sure that I do not do
anything that would facilitate Iranian use of nuclear weapons in the
future. I do not think this deal protects us from that. And that is why I
am going to vote
against it.”
Threat by Senate Democrats to filibuster:
“I think that is
wrong. I think the American people need and deserve to know where each
of us stand. The people of Georgia deserve to know where Johnny Isakson
stands, what I’m going
to do and why I’m going to do it. It’s not fair to the American people,
it’s not right for the American people, and it’s avoiding our
responsibility. To do anything less [than to have an up-or-down vote on
the agreement] is wrong for America, wrong for our
heritage and wrong for our future. …I have studied hard, I’ve worked
hard to try and find the best parts of this deal and the worst parts of
this deal. I find it fails in those five tests that I have given to it,
and I will vote no …on the Iran nuclear deal.”
On Aug. 19, 2015, Isakson officially
announced his opposition to the agreement.
He also penned an op-ed
articulating his position that appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Sept. 4, 2015.
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