Members of the Florida congressional delegation reacted on Tuesday after President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. was ending the nuclear arms deal with Iran.
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who sits on the U.S. Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, applauded the news.
“I’m glad that President Trump decided today to withdraw from the flawed Iran nuclear deal and impose crippling economic and financial sanctions against the Iranian regime,” Rubio said. “This agreement was so bad that bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress voted against it after the last administration refused to submit it as a legally-binding treaty under the Constitution. The deal enriched Iranian regime and empowered it to destabilize the Middle East. Instead of using the deal’s financial windfall to benefit the Iranian people, Iran’s mullahs aggressively built up their ballistic missile program, boosted their support to Hezbollah terrorists and Syria’s Assad regime, and escalated domestic repression.
“After Israel’s recent revelations of Iran’s secret archive of nuclear weaponization plans, the American people deserve better than a bad deal that paves the Iranian terror regime’s path to nuclear weapons,” Rubio added. “And the Iranian people deserve better as they continue to suffer under the regime’s criminal corruption, economic mismanagement, and system-wide human rights abuses.”
On the other side of the aisle, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., denounced Trump’s decision as a “tragic mistake” which will only speed up Iran’s efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.
“We need to put more pressure on Iran with additional economic sanctions to stop them from developing their ICBM missiles,” Nelson insisted. “But pulling out of this deal now is a tragic mistake. It will divide us from our European allies and it will allow Iran to build a nuclear bomb within a year, instead of preventing it for at least 7 to 12 years.”
Over in the U.S. House, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., the chairwoman of the U.S. House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee and a frequent critic of Trump, praised the news.
“The president was clear that it was his priority to fix the JCPOA and made an effort to work with our European partners to close the loopholes and strengthen the accord. Unfortunately, it appears that our allies were unwilling to take the steps necessary to hold Iran accountable for its support for terror, its ballistic missile program, its abysmal human rights record, or to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons,” she said. “The president made the right decision to withdraw from the JCPOA and to begin the process to re-impose sanctions on the regime. Today marks the beginning of a new way forward on Iran and I’m confident that we will be able to build a coalition together to prevent a nuclear Iran.”
Other House Republicans from the Sunshine State also lined up behind Trump.
“The Iranian nuclear deal is one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into. President Trump was right to withdraw and reinstate tough economic sanctions. Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism and has a clear history of cheating on international arms inspections. America should do everything possible to weaken a corrupt and dangerous theocracy that threatens global security,” said U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. “I voted against the nuclear arms agreement in 2015 because it included secret side deals, made no allowance for on-the-spot inspections and contained a massive economic boost to Iran that was used to further spread terrorism and destabilize the Middle East.”
“I strongly support the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the reckless and dangerous Iran deal, a serious threat to our national security that finances global terrorism. I voted against the deal in 2015 because it did nothing to prevent Iran’s development of missiles, nor would it permanently end its nuclear weapons program. As I said after that vote, the Iran deal paved the way for a dangerous state sponsor of terrorism to achieve what it wanted most – nuclear weapons, and the means and funds to deliver them,” said U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.
“Since then, the deal has provided legitimacy and millions in economic relief to a murderous, oppressive regime that opposes U.S. interests and threatens America’s allies. Iran continues to assist its terrorist proxies and international terrorist networks, directly endangering U.S. soldiers and America’s allies, has exacerbated violence in Syria, Yemen and Iraq, as well as instability in Lebanon. Additionally, Iran has continued developing its missile arsenal, launching over 20 ballistic missiles since the deal was signed in 2015,” Diaz-Balart added. “I commend the Trump Administration for taking this bold step to withdraw from this reckless deal that poses a threat to the United States, and for standing with our close ally Israel. The regime in Iran cannot be trusted, and today’s withdrawal gives the United States and our allies a chance to forge a better path toward global stability and a nuclear-free Iran.”
While she at first opposed the deal, in a piece published in The Hill on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., wrote that Trump should have fixed it instead of pulling the plug on it.
“I initially opposed the nuclear agreement, principally because Iran’s malign actions were left unaddressed and because of its sunset clauses,” Frankel noted. “These concerns are still pressing. To no one’s surprise, Iran has maintained its notorious title as the world’s most active state sponsor of terrorism by lending its support to Hezbollah and Hamas, while also propping up the Assad regime. They’ve continued testing ballistic missiles in defiance of international law, some engraved with the horrific phrase, ‘death to Israel.’ The agreement lifts the ban on Iranian arms exports and imports in 2020; sunsets restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile program in 2023; and eliminates most nuclear limitations by 2026. These deadlines are around the corner, and as each one approaches, the international community will be faced with the prospect of a more dangerous Iran.
“With that said, the United States negotiated this deal with our partners and Iran is by all accounts following it,” Frankel added. “The International Atomic Energy Agency has now confirmed Tehran’s compliance with the agreement no fewer than 10 times. Our intelligence community agrees. In February, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats stated that ‘the JCPOA has extended the amount of time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon from a few months to about one year; and that it ‘has also enhanced the transparency of Iran’s nuclear activities.’”
While he also opposed the Iran deal when it was crafted, U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., the ranking Democrat on the House Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee, said he opposed Trump's decision.
"I regret the president’s decision to weaken American leadership around the globe,” Deutch said. "I have expressed my concerns about the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, but I have been clear that American leadership is necessary for the vigorous enforcement of its terms. Nothing in the deal precludes us from going after Iran’s dangerous non-nuclear activities. But unilaterally walking away from the JCPOA will not help stop Iran’s pursuit of ballistic missiles, nor will it give access for inspectors to sites of concern, and it won’t extend the length of the restrictions under the JCPOA.
"This isn’t how we 'get tough' on Iran.,” Deutch added. “In fact, President Trump’s decision today makes it harder to exert American leadership and influence on all of the dangerous things Iran continues to do outside the scope of the deal. To stop Iran from developing and testing ballistic missiles and to crackdown on its support for terrorism, we should lead our allies on the imposition of tough multilateral sanctions. To stop Iran’s human rights abuses and its hostage taking of foreign nationals, including my constituent Bob Levinson, we should lead our allies in a broad coalition to exert significant pressure on the Iranian regime.
"We walk away from this deal alone, losing visibility into Iran’s nuclear activities and losing our ability to make sure the deal is being enforced in the strictest manner possible. By casting aside our allies we lose their trust and weaken our position to lead the international community in preventing Iranian nuclear weapons, stopping Iran's destabilizing behavior, and on other pressing global security issues,” Deutch continued. "Now that the president has chosen to pull the US out of the JCPOA, he must explain to Congress, the American people, and the world what is his plan to ensure Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon? How will we prevent Iran from continuing to destabilize the Middle East and threaten our national interests and the security of our allies?
"As the president chooses to walk alone, Congress must continue to work with our allies to stop Iran from exporting terror, pursuing ballistic missiles, violating human rights, and ensuring it never acquires a nuclear weapon,” Deutch concluded. “Unfortunately the president's decision today is an abdication of American leadership and trust.”
