Tom Cotton

I hope that our administration strongly urges the Iranian regime to release Pastor Abedini so he can be reunited with his family.

The Iranian regime is a totalitarian bureaucracy that persecutes Christians and people of other faiths as well.

I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from Nevada, Dr. Heck, the sponsor of this legislation, a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and soon to be brigadier general.

I have grown weary of the President's war weariness. I have called for months for action in Syria.

Hassan Rouhani is no moderate. He was a devoted follower of the 1979 revolutionary cabal in Iran. He led the 1999 crackdown on students in Iran. He's bragged about deceiving Western nuclear inspectors. He's called Israel a Zionist Satan…

I hope that we don't, unfortunately, devolve into a look backward 10 years or more into what took us to war in Iraq.

Mr. Rouhani is not a moderate. He was part of the 1979 ruling clique, and a devoted follower of Ayatollah Khameini.

The Iranian elections were not free and fair. They were a sham election and Iran is a sham democracy.

If Iran wants to rejoin the civilized world, it's very clear what they should do, not have sham elections.

I appreciate that reference to John 15:13, ``Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend.'' Certainly, many members of the Devil's Brigade did that, as they do today in our Special Forces. Now, Mr. Speaker…

There would be no investigation.

I did not introduce this amendment to tongue tie the clerk of the committee, but to fix what I think is a potential gap in our sanctions regime.

I think Mr. Grayson has raised at least one hypothetical in which my amendment could be over-broad if someone in the third degree of consanguinity has naturalized and become an American citizen.

If you don't want to be sanctioned by the United States don't engage in trade with a theocratic tyranny.

I think a severability clause is the best way at the moment to address his concerns.

And the only thing they understand is iron will, and I think this amendment shows the iron will of the committee to stop or take all measures necessary to stop the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.

I would encourage all of my colleagues to vote yes.

I am happy and honored to be offering this bipartisan amendment with my colleagues from Massachusetts and Illinois.

To put this on the internet I think would help ferment some of the civil unrest in the country.

I agree with my colleague from Ohio that this legislation may be the last best chance to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program before an act of war.

I think sometimes we focus too much on the democracy side overseas, not as much on the constitutional side of constitutional democracy.

James Madison wrote in the Federalist that one of the true objects of government is the defense of property rights.

I would like to explore how it works in Egypt.

As Madison said, those are only parchment barriers.

I certainly hope the FBI is able to investigate, identify, and hold those responsible.