Ken Calvert: “At the outset, it should be clear: There is no country that is more hostile to the interests of the United States and…”

“At the outset, it should be clear: There is no country that is more hostile to the interests of the United States and our allies, especially Israel, than Iran. In fact, as we debate this bill, the U.S. and our partners in the region are under serious threat from Iran and its proxies. As our commander of the U.S. Central Command, General Frank McKenzie, said recently, the Iranian threat remains imminent. Just last week, Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces used a type of magnetic mine--a limpet mine--to attack Japanese and Norwegian oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman. {time} 1630 In addition to this threat to international freedom of navigation and commerce, Iran's Houthi proxies have launched sustained attacks on airports and other infrastructure targets within Saudi Arabia. In this context, it is clearly in the national interest of the United States to ensure that our partners in the region have the capabilities they need to counter a hostile Iran. The sweeping scope of this amendment, however, seeks to block all 22 of these arms sales instead of those few that may be of particular concern. For example, it would attempt to prevent the transfer of precision-guided munitions to our ally Jordan, as well as a number of other seemingly noncontroversial cases. Madam Chair, we need to work with our partners in the region to accomplish common objectives on counterterrorism and in deterring Iran, including through timely U.S. defense transfers.…”