e-News 9/11/15

“We must never forget that day: September 11, 2001”    

Iran Nuclear Pact: “A Deeply Flawed Agreement”

Russia “On the Move”

Salute: USO

 

“We must never forget that day: September 11, 2001” 

Today marks the 14^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 – the day that changed our nation forever, as terrorists killed thousands of innocent people in the streets of Lower Manhattan, the fields of Pennsylvania, and at the Pentagon.

We must never forget that day.  We saw good rise in the face of evil and heroes rise in the face of danger. 

When the day was over - and as we learned that 700 of our neighbors in New Jersey and thousands of other Americans had lost their lives - we witnessed neighbors and friends consoling one another and watched as Americans from all walks of life stood united, side by side.

Of course, America rebounded and we responded to these acts of terrorism with the skill and spirit of our military and our intelligence community. The war we continue to fight began without provocation and without warning. It was not a war of our choosing but it became our priority. And, it continues.

In today’s dangerous and chaotic world, we protect our families, our communities and our nation by pledging to never forget September 11, 2001.  

Iran Nuclear Pact: “A Deeply Flawed Agreement”

The lede in the story in a Washington DC newspaper yesterday said it all: “Senate Democrats held ranks Thursday and blocked a resolution disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal, handing President Obama a major political victory.”

Well, the President may consider using a parliamentary maneuver to advance the nuclear weapons agreement he struck with the Iranian regime “a major political victory” but the American people do not agree.  A new Pew poll found that a mere 21 percent of American approve of the deal.       This is on top of the fact that only 2 percent—that’s right, 2 percent—of Americans have a “great deal of confidence” that Iran’s leaders will abide by the agreement.

Here’s the reality: the Iranian nuclear weapons agreement is not, and should not be a “political” issue.  In fact, it could be the most important national security issue of this generation and the American people deserved a vote.

I voted “No” in the House this morning on the President’s deal.  While there are many reasons to stand against this agreement, it comes down to a fundamental reality: the Iranian nuclear deal fails to achieve its critical objective: blocking all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon. In fact, this deal provides Iran with international endorsement of an industrial-scale nuclear weapons program.

We must not forget where the negotiations started: with the President of the United States declaring that Iran must never be allowed to achieve a nuclear weapons capability. 

However, this agreement will provide a legal path to a nuclear weapons capability to a country that remains a rogue state and has violated a whole series of international obligations and U.N. Security Council resolutions.  Simply put, the Iranians have cheated before.  We would be fools to assume they will not cheat again.

Worse than that, Iran will be economically strengthened by early relief from sanctions – providing the Ayatollah with fresh resources with which to fund the Quds Forces and its global terrorism network. 

Supporters of this agreement have proclaimed loudly that the onlyalternative to this agreement is war.   I reject that notion and predict thatthis deal will lead to even more Iranian aggression in the Middle East. 

For our part, the agreement talks about normalization of economic relations with Iran and states that the parties shall implement the agreement “in good faith . . . based on mutual respect." But how can there be respect for a regime that actively instigates regional instability, publicly and constantly advocates for the destruction of the State of Israel, and uses the phrase "Death to America" as a mission statement?

Tragically, the President appears bound and determined to implement this deeply flawed agreement by ignoring Congress and the millions of people calling him to stop.

You can view my entire floor statement here.

Russia “On the Move”

Russian troops join combat in Syria (Reuters).

Putin Sends His Dirty War Forces to Syria (The Daily Beast).

Russia Raises the Stakes in Syrian War (Foreign Policy).

Exclusive: Russia building major military base near Ukrainian border (Reuters).

Salute: A heartfelt “thank you” to the United Service Organization, better known as the USO, which is committed to its mission of lifting the spirits of America’s troops and their families. The thousands of USO volunteers do everything possible to provide a home away from home for our troops and to keep them connected to the families they left behind.  Yesterday, I had the privilege of joining other USO volunteers in helping to assemble “hygiene packets” for our servicemen and women who are serving abroad.  240,000 are deployed in the Middle East, Europe, South Korea, Japan and many other locations across the globe.