COLLEGE PARK, Md. – U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) today joined University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh and several dozen students in the School of Public Policy for a conversation on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program currently being reviewed by Congress. Senator Cardin, the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, has examined the JCPOA carefully, consulted numerous experts and is seeking out the perspectives of a diverse range of Marylanders as he considers whether he will vote to approve the agreement. 

“Our young people have the most at stake when we consider questions of long-term global stability, so this opportunity to test my thinking on the JCPOA with students is an integral part of my decision-making process,” said Senator Cardin. “Maryland’s universities draw some of the sharpest minds in the world, and I appreciated learning more about their views on the world.”

“Senator Cardin gave our students a remarkable opportunity to learn and participate in a critical foreign policy discussion, and we were pleased to welcome him to campus,” said University of Maryland President Wallace D. Loh.  “Senator Cardin heard a very broad and constructive range of views from our students, given the diversity and collaborative nature of our Middle East study programs.”

“Senator Cardin brought an acute sense of the real-world challenges that have to be simultaneously managed,” said UMD School of Public Policy Dean Robert Orr. After an engaging dialogue with our students and faculty, I hope he left campus having benefited from the discussion as much as we did.”

“There is no trust when it comes to Iran, and it is in our – and the world’s – security interest to ensure that Iran is blocked from ever having a nuclear weapon,” said Senator Cardin. “Congress presently faces a solemn charge to fulfill its oversight responsibilities and to conduct a thorough and rigorous review of the JCPOA. Each member of Congress must make a personal and very individual decision on whether he or she believes the agreement will keep Iran from becoming a nuclear weapon state and further the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. Today’s discussion with students at the University of Maryland represented an important part of my deliberations.”

###