Foreign Affairs
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September 11, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 3461, to APPROVE the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, signed at Vienna on July 14, 2015, relating to the nuclear program of Iran. Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) voted YES on H.R. 3461 (Roll Call No. 493).
The House also considered H.R. 3460, a bill to suspend until January 21, 2017, the President’s authority to waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or otherwise limit the application of sanctions pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Congressman Scott voted NO on H.R. 3460 (Roll Call No. 494).
Congressman Scott issued the following statement on today’s votes relating to the Iran nuclear agreement:
September 3, 2015
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement announcing his support for the P5+1 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear agreement:
“This month, Congress will be voting on a resolution of disapproval of the Iran nuclear agreement, which, if enacted, would deny the President the authority to waive certain sanctions against Iran. After careful deliberation, I have decided to support the Iran nuclear agreement and will vote against a resolution of disapproval.
“This agreement took years of careful negotiations between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France and Germany. It has been heralded as an unprecedented, landmark agreement for nuclear non-proliferation and was immediately endorsed by a unanimous vote of the United Nations Security Council.
July 17, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement on the Iran Deal:
"I am currently in the process of reviewing the Iran deal. In my review I will consider not what could or should have been in the deal, but how the deal compares to the alternative of no deal at all. It is important to remember that this agreement is not just with Iran, but with the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Germany and other industrialized nations to ensure that if Iran violates any aspect of the agreement, economic sanctions can snap back into place.
June 18, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) issued the following statement on stand-alone legislation to grant the President Trade Promotion Authority, commonly known as Fast Track:
“As I did last week, I again opposed Trade Promotion Authority because it lacks sufficient safeguards to ensure that labor standards, environmental standards, and consumer protections are respected in partner countries and here at home. I remain concerned that the Trans-Pacific Partnership — the multi-nation trade deal currently being negotiated by the President and the impetus for today’s vote — is not the best course of action for our economy and America’s middle class.”
June 12, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — House Committee on Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) issued the following statement on today’s trade votes:
“While I am a strong supporter of Trade Adjustment Assistance that provides needed support to workers who have had their jobs shipped overseas, I was unable to vote for today’s TAA title of the Trade Act. When taken into context, this TAA authorization fell woefully short in our duty to support American workers. It lacked adequate funding, left out a large sector of the economy, and is tied directly to Congress granting the President Trade Promotion Authority.
June 11, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with U.S. Representatives Bobby Scott, Randy Forbes, Rob Wittman, Gerry Connolly, Robert Hurt, Dave Brat, and Don Beyer urged the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee and Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations to oppose language in the House State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill that that would jeopardize funding for a Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC) at Fort Pickett. The delegation believes the proposed language is a form of protest against the selection of Fort Pickett over other possible sites and part of a broader attempt to derail the process.
January 12, 2015
By Sean Gorman, Richmond Times Dispatch/Politifact Virginia
Rep. Bobby Scott was appalled by the findings of a Senate report detailing the enhanced interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The Senate report detailed many instances when the U.S. waterboarded suspected terrorists, a drowning-like procedure in which interrogators covered detainees’ faces with a cloth and doused them with water, sometimes until they fell unconscious.
Scott, D-3rd, denounced the waterboarding as a torture method inconsistent with the United States’ image as a "moral authority" and said the report shows the country "failed to lead by example."
"After World War II, we tried, convicted, and in some cases, executed Japanese soldiers for war crimes that included charges of waterboarding," Scott said in a Dec. 9 news release.
December 17, 2014
NEWPORT NEWS, VA – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03) issued the following statement today upon the announcements of the release of American contractor Alan Gross from a Cuban prison where he was held for five years and the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba:
Issues:Foreign Affairs
December 9, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations on the House Judiciary Committee, issued the following statement on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence’s redacted summary, released today, of its report on the use of torture by the Central Intelligence Agency:
“The declassified summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report confirms that the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program had a policy of torture in contravention of federal law and international conventions. While the CIA suggests that such tactics were necessary to protect the nation from future terrorist attacks, the report indicates that the relationship between many counterterrorism successes cited by the CIA in support of the policy and the ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ was tenuous at best and non-existent at worst.