Obama Warns Congress: Opposing Deal Would Trigger ‘Nuclear Arms Race’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
BARACK OBAMA: "Now, let me re-emphasize. Our work is not yet done. The deal has not been signed. Between now and the end of June, the negotiators will continue to work through the details of how this framework will be fully implemented and those details matter. If there is backsliding on the part of the Iranians, if the verification and inspection mechanisms don't meet the specifications of our nuclear and security experts, there will be no deal. But if we can get this done and Iran follows through on the framework that our negotiators agreed to, we will be able to resolve one of the greatest threats to our security and to do so peacefully. Given the importance of this issue, I've instructed my negotiators to fully brief Congress and the American people on the substance of the deal. And I welcome a robust debate in the weeks and months to come. I am confident that we can show that this deal is good for the security of the United States, for our allies, and for the world. For the fact is, we only have three options for addressing Iran's nuclear program. First, we can reach a robust and verifiable deal like this one and peacefully prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The second option is we can bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, thereby starting another war in the Middle East and setting back Iran's program by a few years. In other words, setting it back by a fraction of the time that this deal will set it back. Meanwhile, we'd ensure that Iran would race ahead to try and build a bomb. Third, we could pull out of negotiations, try to get other countries to go along and continue sanctions that are currently in place or additional ones and hope for the best. Knowing that every time we have done so, Iran has not capitulated but instead has advanced its program. And that in very short order, the breakout timeline would be eliminated. And a nuclear arms race in the region triggered because of that uncertainty. In other words, the third option leads us very quickly back to a decision about whether or not to take military action because we'd have no idea what was going on inside of Iran. Iran is not going to simply dismantle its program because we demand it to do so. That's not how the world works. And that's not what history shows us."