Title: Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives regarding the prevention of Iran from obtaining or developing nuclear weapons.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution 	calls upon the United States and Iran to resume their obligations under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement and urges all parties to reduce conflict.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 495 Introduced in House (IH)]

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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 
        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, 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 sanctions, 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 States-Iran deconfliction channels undermines the 
        ability of the United States to deal with rising tensions with Iran: 
        Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives 
that--
            (1) the JCPOA is a key international nonproliferation 
        achievement that has effectively guarded against Iran 
        developing nuclear weapons and is vital to maintaining and 
        protecting the national security of the United States;
            (2) the United States should resume its obligations under 
        the JCPOA, fully reimplement its commitments under the 
        agreement, utilize multilateral and bilateral diplomacy to 
        achieve political solutions to remaining challenges with Iran, 
        and use the JCPOA as a foundation from which to build follow-on 
        agreements;
            (3) the remaining P5+1 partners are encouraged to use the 
        JCPOA conflict mitigation mechanisms to address any compliance 
        challenges with Iran or other parties to the agreement;
            (4) the Government of Iran is encouraged to ensure 
        compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, as Iranian 
        compliance is essential to the prospect of United States re-
        entry and any future agreements; and
            (5) the Trump administration should immediately establish 
        and utilize diplomatic and military deconfliction channels with 
        Iran to prevent miscalculations and defuse tensions as they 
        arise.
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