VIDEO: Kirk Amendment Holds Iranian Regime Accountable

Kirk Displays Names of 290 American Citizens Murdered by Iran-Sponsored Hezbollah Terrorists

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) spoke on the Senate Floor to urge his colleagues to support his amendment to hold the Iranian terror regime responsible if it cheats on nuclear agreements with the United States.  Kirk Amendment #545 to the Senate budget resolution, S. Con. Res. 11, supports the bipartisan and uncontroversial principle of re-imposing waived sanctions and imposing new sanctions if Iran cheats on the interim nuclear deal or a final nuclear deal.

Senator Kirk read the names of 13 people from Illinois who were among the 290 American citizens murdered by Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists. Kirk has posted online the names and images of these American victims of Iran.

“In the memory of these 290 Americans we want to make sure we carry out a sense of the Senate that expresses our views that if Iran cheats on this agreement, there should be sanctions. I call on all Members to back the bipartisan Kirk-Menendez effort to hold Iran accountable during these negotiations.”

Video of Senator Kirk’s speech can be viewed here. The text of Senator Kirk’s amendment is available here.

Additional Background:

The bipartisan and uncontroversial principle of imposing sanctions on Iran if it cheats on nuclear deals is embodied in Section 208 of the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015, a bipartisan bill co-authored by Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

Section 208 of the Kirk-Menendez Iran legislation would immediately re-impose waived sanctions and impose new sanctions on Iran if the president cannot certify to Congress that Iran is full compliance with nuclear agreements with the United States and its negotiating partners.

On January 29, 2015, the Senate Banking Committee passed the Kirk-Menendez Iran legislation in a strong bipartisan 18-to-4 vote, in which the Committee carried all 12 Republicans and 6 out of 10 Democrats.

Twelve Democratic Senators wrote a letter to President Obama on January 26th in support of the Kirk-Menendez legislation, vowing: “After March 24, we will only vote for this legislation on the Senate floor if Iran fails to reach agreement on a political framework that addresses all parameters of a comprehensive agreement.”

As of March 25, 2015, Iran has failed “to reach agreement on a political framework that addresses all parameters of a comprehensive agreement.”

Iran is a theocratic dictatorship that sponsors and exports terrorism, egregiously violates human rights, has worked with terrorists to kill more Americans than the Islamic State, and now has a decades-long record of cheating to get nuclear weapons-making capability.