IV 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 495 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the prevention 

of Iran from obtaining or developing nuclear weapons. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 16, 2019 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Mr. PRICE of North Carolina, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. YARMUTH, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. LEVIN of 

Michigan, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. 

LOWENTHAL, Mr. POCAN, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GALLEGO, Ms. 

HAALAND, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. COHEN, Mr. BEYER, Ms. 

SPEIER, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, and 

Mr. RUSH) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the prevention of Iran from obtaining or developing 

nuclear weapons. 

Whereas it is in the vital interest of the United States and 

its allies to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons; 

Whereas Iran remains a leading state sponsor of terrorism, 

continues to develop and test missile technology in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, 

threatens United States forces and interests, continues to 

imprison American citizens, threatens regional allies and 


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•HRES 495 IH 

partners, and utilizes proxies to destabilize the Middle 

East; 

Whereas these activities remain under non-nuclear sanctions 

and must be addressed through sustained diplomatic engagement with Iran and our allies; 

Whereas the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) 

was agreed to by the P5+1 (the United States, the People’s Republic of China, France, Germany, the Russian 

Federation, the United Kingdom), and Iran on July 14, 

2015, and entered into effect on January 16, 2016, securing an international agreement that effectively cut off 

all pathways to an Iranian nuclear weapon; 

Whereas the JCPOA was unanimously endorsed by the 

United Nations Security Council; 

Whereas the JCPOA committed Iran to implementing the 

Non-Proliferation Treaty that would prohibit Iran from 

ever seeking, developing, or acquiring any nuclear weapons; 

Whereas the JCPOA allows for indefinite inspections and 

verification to ensure Iranian compliance, including 24- 

hour, 7-day-a-week inspections and mitigation mechanisms for any potential violations; 

Whereas the JCPOA was solely intended to prevent Iran 

from obtaining nuclear weapons, allowing the United 

States and its allies to counter other Iranian malign activities without Iran being shielded by a nuclear umbrella; 

Whereas the JCPOA resulted in Iran taking verifiable and 

concrete steps to eliminate 97 percent of its uranium 

stockpile, halt all uranium enrichment activities at the 

underground Fordow site, decommission over 13,000 centrifuges and place them under international monitoring, 


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and destroy the core of its heavy-water reactor, thereby 

blocking production of weapons-grade plutonium; 

Whereas the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 

United States verified that Iran remained in compliance 

with the terms of the JCPOA until July 2019; 

Whereas Iran’s decision to surpass limits on its low enriched 

uranium stockpile was a direct response to the Trump 

Administration’s unilateral violation of JCPOA; 

Whereas nothing in the JCPOA prevents the United States 

and its allies from seeking follow-on agreements with 

Iran, just as the United States has done with other international nonproliferation agreements and such agreements may address expiring provisions under the 

JCPOA; 

Whereas President Donald J. Trump unilaterally violated the 

United States commitment to the JCPOA and United 

Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 by withdrawing the United States from the agreement on May 

8, 2018; 

Whereas the United States unilateral withdrawal from the 

JCPOA has undermined United States global leadership 

and isolated the United States from its allies, leading allies and any future negotiating partners to question the 

United States commitment to international agreements; 

Whereas the withdrawal of the United States from the 

JCPOA undermines global nuclear nonproliferation efforts and jeopardizes the international community’s ability to maintain nuclear inspectors on the ground in Iran; 

Whereas the reimplementation of JCPOA-related secondary 

sanctions by the United States has led to the attempted 

creation of a vehicle to circumvent United States sancVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:05 Jul 18, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR495.IH HR495

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tions, which undermines the influence of the United 

States in the global financial system and the United 

States global sanctions architecture; 

Whereas since withdrawing from the JCPOA, tensions with 

Iran have increased, and the Trump administration has 

failed to communicate or implement a viable and coordinated strategy to curb Iranian activities at odds with the 

interests of the United States, greatly increasing the risk 

of a direct military confrontation; and 

Whereas the lack of sustained and principled diplomatic engagement with Iran and the absence of United StatesIran deconfliction channels undermines the ability of the 

United States to deal with rising tensions with Iran: 

Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) the JCPOA is a key international non4 proliferation achievement that has effectively guard5 ed against Iran developing nuclear weapons and is 

6 vital to maintaining and protecting the national se7 curity of the United States; 

8 (2) the United States should resume its obliga9 tions under the JCPOA, fully reimplement its com10 mitments under the agreement, utilize multilateral 

11 and bilateral diplomacy to achieve political solutions 

12 to remaining challenges with Iran, and use the 

13 JCPOA as a foundation from which to build follow14 on agreements; 


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1 (3) the remaining P5+1 partners are encour2 aged to use the JCPOA conflict mitigation mecha3 nisms to address any compliance challenges with 

4 Iran or other parties to the agreement; 

5 (4) the Government of Iran is encouraged to 

6 ensure compliance with its obligations under the 

7 JCPOA, as Iranian compliance is essential to the 

8 prospect of United States re-entry and any future 

9 agreements; and 

10 (5) the Trump administration should imme11 diately establish and utilize diplomatic and military 

12 deconfliction channels with Iran to prevent mis13 calculations and defuse tensions as they arise. 

Æ 


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