Durbin Statement on Vote in Favor of Iran Nuclear Agreement
[WASHINGTON, D.C.] — U.S. Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) released the following statement after voting to not advance a resolution of disapproval of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran:
“Make no mistake, the reason Iran came to the negotiating table was the sanctions regime imposed by the United States and our allies around the world. We put pressure on them and said if you’re going to continue to pursue the development of a nuclear weapon, we’re going to put as much pressure as possible on this nation—and it worked.”
“We brought Iran to the negotiating table. We sat down with our key allies around the world and we worked out an agreement to stop them from developing nuclear weapons. It isn’t a question of trusting them to do that. We’ll put on the ground scores of inspectors, who will be there for years, making certain they don’t violate this agreement. Should they do so, all of these sanctions go right back into place. That’s the only way we can deal with Iran today.”
“I hope tomorrow there’s a better relationship between Iran and the world, but we want to deal with this specific threat, the nuclear threat, in the Middle East. I believe this agreement, which I support, moves that in the right direction.”
Over the past eight weeks, Durbin has led the effort to build support for the deal in the Senate, convening meetings between Senators and nuclear experts, Administration officials, and ambassadors for the P5+1 countries, and speaking daily with his colleagues about the importance of the agreement.
Video of Durbin’s statement is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s statement is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s floor remarks is available for TV Stations using FTP in high definition here and in standard definition here.