Bob Corker

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Creating a More Efficient and Level Playing Field: Audit and Appeals Issues in Medicare.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-430 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building to conduct a hearing entitled ``Continuing America's Leadership: The Future of Medical Innovation for Patients.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 2:30 p.m. to conduct a hearing entitled ``Securing the Border: Biometric Entry and Exit at Our Ports of Entry.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 2:30 p.m., in room SR- 253 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a Subcommittee hearing entitled ``FAA Reauthorization: Aviation Safety and General Aviation.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SR-253 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a Subcommittee hearing entitled ``Staying Afloat: Examining the Resources and Priorities of the U.S. Coast Guard.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 9 a.m.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 2:30 p.m.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled, ``Examining the Proper Role of Judicial Review in the Federal Regulatory Process.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., in room SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Oversight of Homeland Security.''

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on April 28, 2015, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing entitled ``The State of the Insurance Industry and Insurance Regulation.''

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I would like to congratulate the ranking member on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions on the outstanding occurrence last week where the committee, on a 22-to-0 vote, voted out the education reforms that are going to affect young people throughout our country. It was a great undertaking, and I think it speaks to her willingness to reach across the aisle and to solve problems that matter so much to all of our constituents. I wanted to thank her for being here today and for being a part of this debate.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I, too, want to thank the Senator from Wyoming for his continually constructive role and just the tone in which he talked about this last issue. I will say that in negotiations with Senator Cardin, we added all kinds of reporting mechanisms. It is true that the negotiations that are underway have nothing to do with alleviating any kinds of terrorist sanctions, human rights sanctions or ballistic missile testing sanctions. I will just say that should Iran commit an act of terrorism against an American, sanctions would be the minimum, I think, they would have to be worried about. I would think bombs and missiles on heads would be what they would be concerned about. I think we have in place mechanisms that allow us to know these things. I have a feeling that if Iran, again, commits any kind of act of terrorism against Americans--which is what is being talked about here--significant kinetic activity would be taking place. Sanctions, to me, would be the least of their worries. But I am pleased that we were glad to clear up all of the reporting requirements but also to stipulate, again, that in this particular bill we are talking about the nuclear file, not alleviating sanctions on any of the other components. Let me just say, if there is a deal--and this is something I have tried to make clear from day one--I hope it is a good deal. I know the Senator from Wyoming does too. We know the best route for us is to have a negotiated good deal. But in the event we end up with a negotiated good deal and sanctions are relieved, these four tranches of sanctions that we put in place since 2010 are then available to us to reapply in the event we find human rights violations, we find ballistic testing is getting out of hand or we have terrorist activity, to add again an additional crushing blow to the Iranian economy. I thank the Senator for his steadfast concern in this regard. I thank him for the way he works with all of us. I hope we are going to be in a process very soon to be voting on some amendments. I know we think we have agreed to some language, and hopefully that will begin very soon.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, if I could follow up, I have been in extensive conversations with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who I know has tremendous respect on this side of the aisle. She sent out a release today in response to this amendment that is coming before us today that the proposed Iranian nuclear agreement is classically an executive agreement and does not need to be a treaty with the advice and consent of the Senate--this is our former Secretary of State under George W. Bush--but Congress should be able to opine, given the congressionally mandated sanctions would have to be lifted. I think everybody on our side of the aisle understands that with four tranches of sanctions that Congress put in place--we brought them to the table with Senator Menendez leading that effort, and in each of those cases, which is traditionally done, we gave a national security waiver. No one ever thought the President would use the national security waiver to kick the can down the road for years on the congressionally mandated sanctions without our approval. But everybody in this body who has been here in recent times participated in giving the President--if you voted for these sanctions and in some cases they were unanimous--the unilateral ability to waive the sanctions. If we pass this underlying bill, on which we now have 67 cosponsors, we are taking back that authority. But to try to deem this as a treaty is a losing effort. In essence, it will destroy our ability--it will destroy our ability to have any say-so, as the Senator just mentioned, in one of the biggest geopolitical events of our time. If this amendment were to pass, the outcome would be no limitation on the President's use of waivers to suspend the sanctions we put in place, none--no requirement that Congress receive the deal at all, never mind the classified annexes that go with it but which, by the way, the American people will never see--will never see, but on their behalf we would like to see--no review period for Congress to seal the deal and vote before it is implemented, no requirement that the President certify Iran is complying, no mechanism for Congress to rapidly reimpose sanctions, and no reporting on Iran's support for terrorism, ballistic missile development, and human rights violations. I just want to say to my friends, voting for this treaty is, in essence, saying that we are willing to throw what has been put together aside, even though we have 67 cosponsors. Look, I wish we had the ability to vote affirmatively, but we gave that away. Almost everybody in this body was a part of giving that national security waiver away. This is an executive agreement. Our former Secretary of State, whom we love and cherish, says this is an executive agreement. We can wish it was a treaty or we can try to deem it as a treaty, but the effect is we will have no role if we were to pass this amendment by Johnson, a friend of mine. We will have no role in this. I urge people to vote no. I know there will be debate between now and 6:10. I appreciate the ranking member being here with me. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I commend Senator Isakson for always playing such a constructive role. I know he played a big role on the TPA issue, which is, as he mentioned, very important. I know from a geopolitical balance standpoint, it is very, very important for us to be able to consummate the TPA arrangement. I also thank him for the constructive role he always plays on foreign relations. For a couple of year he was off the committee, and we missed him greatly. We are glad to have him back and very much appreciate his support of not only the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act but his constant and vigilant effort to ensure that people who have not been compensated properly end up being compensated properly. I look forward to the markup of his bill in the committee. I thank him for consistently and steadfastly pursuing this issue and, again, for the many constructive ways in which he works to cause this body to function in a productive manner. With that, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, I thank the Senator for his amendment. My sense is that over the course this debate, there will be a pathway forward. Secondly, I thank him for cosponsoring the legislation that is before us. As to deeming it a treaty, I wish to point out that the Senator has been in the Senate almost 6 years, which leads me to believe that at on at least three occasions, the Senator has already voted to give the President unilateral ability to implement this by a national security waiver. That is why this now is an executive agreement. And I think everyone here knows that what the President plans to do is to take what Senator Toomey and others have granted to him--a national security waiver--and go directly to the U.N. Security Council and, therefore--as a matter of fact, if we had not granted that security waiver, it would take a majority of people here to lift that. However, in putting these sanctions in place, all of us who put these four tranches of sanctions in place since 2000 have granted the President a national security waiver. In a letter in response to me, the Chief of Staff made it clear that they plan to go straight to the U.N. Security Council with this waiver in hand. They plan to waive these sanctions ad infinitum way down the road. Secretary Kerry has testified to us that maybe 5 years down the road, after the sanctions regime has totally dissipated, we would have the ability to vote. So my sense is that I agree with the sentiment that is being laid out. I just wish to say again, if the Johnson amendment were to pass, ultimately this bill would not pass. Let me just say there would be no limitation on the President's use of waivers to suspend sanctions that we put in place, which brought them to the table, and no requirement that Congress receive the deal at all--never mind the classified annexes that go with it--no review period for Congress to seal the deal and vote before it is implemented, no requirement that the President certify Iran is complying, no mechanism for Congress to rapidly reimpose sanctions, and no reporting on Iran support for terrorism, ballistic missile development, and human rights violations. So my sentiment is with the Senator. I hope his amendment will very soon become law, and I appreciate his diligence there. I think he understands that this body, in putting the sanctions in place, gave the President the ability to do this unilaterally. What this bill does is to take back some of that authority. I hope we will be able to do that collectively. I appreciate the ranking member's efforts in this regard. I yield the floor.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I would like to ask unanimous consent in a moment. First, I would like to thank the distinguished Senator from New Jersey, who has been as much as anybody in this entire congressional body, both House and Senate--actually he and Senator Kirk have been stalwarts on Iran. Without his efforts, we would not even be in a negotiation right now. I cannot thank him enough for his positive contributions, for his leadership as ranking member and chairman. I want to thank him. Amendment No. 1150 Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the time until 6:10 p.m. today be equally divided in the usual form and that following the use or yielding back of that time, the Senate vote on the following amendment: Johnson amendment No. 1150; further, that there be no second-degree amendments in order to the amendment and that it require a 60-affirmative-vote threshold for adoption of the amendment.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I want to thank the Senator for his active involvement on our Foreign Relations Committee. He is a valuable member, and I appreciate his concern about this issue. I know he understands that this is an amendment that is likely not to pass. Let me tell you why. Four times since 2010, Congress has put in sanctions that most people believe is what brought Iran to the table--four different tranches. They began in 2010. In almost every one of these cases they have had huge bipartisan support. I know the Senator knows this. But what happened was when those were done--as a matter of fact, this Senator three of those four times voted to give the President a national security waiver on the congressionally mandated sanctions. I know the Senator knows this as well. We talked about it extensively. I know he has had conversations with the Secretary of State--former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as I have multiple times, and she agrees this is an executive agreement. Let me tell you why. The reason it is an executive agreement is right now the President has the ability to go straight to the U.N. Security Council, working with the other members, and alleviate the U.N. Security Council's sanctions. Obviously, he has the ability to do that with the Executive sanctions that he himself put in place. What Congress has done--and I know the Senator participated because he, too, wanted to make sure we sanctioned Iran to bring them to the table, as we have. But I know this Senator has been here long enough that in three of those times, he gave--he gave--the President the unilateral ability to waive these sanctions. I was very concerned about this and wrote a letter to the President about 2 months ago asking how he planned to do this. The President-- obviously, I got a response from the Chief of Staff, and they made it very clear. They plan to go straight to the U.N. Security Council, and it is my understanding that what they plan to do is use something called a nonbinding political commitment--that is what they plan to do with Iran if they come to an agreement--and then have that endorsed by the U.N. Security Council. While I very much appreciate the sentiment of the Senator--whom I love working with and I am glad we have a businessman of his caliber here--I think he knows that what we are actually doing here is something that is unprecedented; that is, that we are taking back from the President authority that has already been given to him, causing him to have to bring this agreement to us. I know it is not to the level he would like--candidly, not to the level I would like. I agree with that. Let me say this: We know that in the event that this amendment were to pass, it would be vetoed and, therefore, it is a substitute for the bill that is before us. So what that would mean is no limitation would be on the President's use of waivers to suspend sanctions that we put in place, no requirement that Congress receive the deal at all, never mind the classified annexes that we all know are a big part of this and, by the way, the American people are never going to see. Without the bill that is on the floor, the American people will never see it. We will see it on their behalf because we believe that on behalf of the American people, somebody should go through this bill and this deal in detail, if there is a deal reached. There will be no review period for Congress to see the deal and vote before it is implemented, no requirement that the President certify that Iran is complying, no mechanism for Congress to rapidly reimpose the sanctions, and no reporting on Iran's support for terrorism, ballistic missile development, and human rights violations. Now, look, if I could wave a magic wand or all of a sudden donkeys flew around the Capitol, I would love for us to have the ability to deem this a treaty. I really would. I think the Senator knows I mean that. I would love for us to have to affirmatively approve this. But unfortunately, a lot of us are article II folks, and we think the President has the ability to negotiate things. We had no idea this President would consider suspending these sanctions ad infinitum forever--no idea. I think even people on this side of the aisle were shocked. As a matter of fact, Tim Kaine, thankfully, in a meeting where Secretary Kerry--I am sorry, was being one tick too cute at one of our hearings--said: You are going to have the right to vote on it. Of course, what he meant was 5 years down the road, 6 years down the road, after the sanctions regime has been eliminated. Look, I have strong agreement with the sentiment of our Senator from Wisconsin, somebody I love serving with, but let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Let's ensure that we have the ability to see the details of this deal that it lays before us, that the clock doesn't start until we get all of the classified annexes on behalf of the American people, some of whom are here in the Gallery watching this. On their behalf, we have the ability to see what is in this. By the way, if we don't like it, yes, there is a large hurdle in the Senate. We know the way the Senate operates. We have to have a 60-vote threshold. In the House, it is a simple majority. It is a simple majority in the House. Look, I agree with the sentiment. This is one of the biggest geopolitical issues that will potentially happen if an agreement is reached in our lifetime here in the Senate. I hope people, in spite of the fact that I agree with the sentiment, will vote against the Johnson amendment when it comes to the floor and make sure we can pass the bill that is before us so that on behalf of the American people, we have the opportunity to see it, to weigh in. By the way, one of the things that is very important, that lives beyond--lives beyond--is that every 90 days the President is having to comply that Iran is--or is having to certify that Iran is complying with the agreement. Again, I thank the Senator. I appreciate his sentiments. I yield the floor. I see that the distinguished minority leader is here on the floor. My sense is he has something to say.

Mr. CORKER. Madam President, if I could respond, just briefly, I know there are speakers who would like to speak.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I thank my friend from Maryland. I agree. We have reached out to numbers of people who have amendments and have asked them to come down to the floor and talk with us. I know a number of our folks are traveling around the country focused on other things at present. We have reached out to them to get back with us and talk about some of the language. I say to my friend from Maryland that I appreciate his openness to the numbers of amendments we are now looking at. I know at lunch today he will talk to his caucus a little bit about them and we will talk to ours. I look forward to a robust process. But, again, we have to have people who, if they want to call up an amendment--they need to come down, if they will, and talk with us and let us work through the process. I thank the Senator for his comments. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, this amendment simply requires that, alongside the English text of any final agreement, the President submit to Congress the official Persian text of any final agreement, including the related materials and annexes. We all have seen the controversy surrounding the discrepancies between the American factsheet and the Iranian factsheet. This agreement is too important to rely on secondhand interpretations of the Senate. In order for Congress to adequately evaluate any agreement, we have to see what both sides believe this agreement is, and that requires the Persian text of the agreement. This is a commonsense amendment. I thank Senator Cardin for joining me in this amendment, and not unprecedented in any way. In fact, we just recently received a transmission of the China 123 agreement, which included the Chinese text. I yield to my friend, Senator Cardin.

Mr. CORKER. I thank the Senator for his constructive comments and his work on the committee. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I call up the Corker-Cardin amendment, which is at the desk.

Mr. CORKER

Mr. CORKER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.