Political Quotes

“Mr. President, in the months since world powers reached an agreement to block Iran's pathway to building a nuclear weapon, Iran's behavior has given the international community reasons for both some optimism and continuing, serious concern. The positive news has been that Iran has taken some real steps to restrain its nuclear programs. It has disabled two of its short-term pathways to producing weapons- grade material by shipping nearly its entire stockpile of enriched uranium out of the country and by filling its plutonium reactor with concrete. Iran has reduced its number of functioning uranium-enrichment centrifuges by two-thirds, and the country has provided international inspectors 24/7 access to continuously monitor all of Iran's declared facilities. These are positive developments. Yet, at the same time, Iran continues to engage in deeply concerning activities, such as support for terrorism and efforts to foment instability in the Middle East, to conduct illegal ballistic missile tests, and to continue to violate its citizens' most basic human rights. Today, my colleagues and I come to the floor to draw attention to some of the more grave, more concerning developments of recent weeks. I am honored to have the company of my friend, the senior Senator from Connecticut, Mr. Blumenthal, who joins me in addressing why Russia's refusal to condemn Iran's bad behavior--and, in fact, in some ways encouraging it--poses huge security risks for our allies in the Middle East.…”