I am here today to testify about a tragedy that took place in 2003 on the outskirts of Basra in Iraq.

I urge this Committee to adopt S. 1779 to honor the sacrifice of LTC Gentry and all of our brave men and women doing the hard, dangerous work to keep America safe.

I appreciate your hospitality and your leadership on these critically important issues.

The DOD Inspector General just launched an investigation into the breakdowns and gaps in our system that allowed this tragic exposure to happen.

Today I would like to tell this Committee about S. 1779.

It is possible that they are operating as if they were in a bazaar and there are ultimately rational decisionmakers at the end of the day.

If we don't take aggressive steps, 1 day, we will wake up to the unpleasant surprise of them having become a nuclear power.

We need to send a strong message to the regime and the international community that a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable.

If it is the former, we can ratchet up economic, financial, diplomatic, cultural, all sorts of pressure.

There is a 95-percent chance that they are rational decisionmakers and will behave like a normal nation state.

I think you are quite right in judging them not by what they say, but by what they do.

I intend to move forward in this Committee this month on comprehensive sanctions legislation.