WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) released the following statement after the House rejected legislation approving the nuclear deal with Iran. The House also approved H.R. 3460, legislation suspending the authority of the President to waive, lift or weaken sanctions on Iran:
“This is a bad and dangerous deal, poorly negotiated and not in the best interests of the American people and our allies. Plain and simple. The President’s negotiations with Iran should have centered on one basic tenet: dismantling Iran’s nuclear program. Unfortunately, that was not the case. In fact, it looks like the only objective was to get a deal, at any cost. This bad deal has earned strong opposition throughout the country from people across the political spectrum, because the American people know Iran cannot be trusted with a nuclear weapon.
“President Reagan said, ‘trust, but verify.’ Today, with this bad deal, President Obama is telling us to trust Iran to verify. What has Iran done to earn our trust? The Ayatollah himself leads chants of ‘Death to America.’ These are the people the president is negotiating with, who want ultimately to develop not only a nuclear bomb, but an entire nuclear arsenal. Adding insult to injury, this deal hands over $100 billion to an Iranian regime that is already the world’s largest state sponsor of terror. For these and many other reasons, I cannot support this deal, and in fact have deep concerns that this deal will ensure Iran’s ability to obtain nuclear weapons and trigger a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East.
“Under the law that President Obama himself signed, he is required to disclose to Congress and the American people all information related to this deal, including secret side agreements — which he has not done. The American people deserve transparency and the truth. Instead, the President lays out the false choice between his deal or war. Well, Mr. President, there is a better way. Negotiate a better deal that builds upon the sanctions that were working and require Iran to dismantle their nuclear program to protect the interests of the United States of America and our allies for now and for decades to come.”