Political Quotes

“I wanted to come to the floor to speak about the risk Iran poses to the world as a result of the legislation before the Senate at this moment. A lot has been talked about in the media over the last months--years, quite frankly--about the notion we are going to work out a deal with Iran that will prevent war. Sadly, I believe the direction the deal is headed almost guarantees war at some point, certainly in our lifetime, but maybe before the end of the decade. Let me back up and first describe the issue at hand. The issue at hand is that Iran, run by a radical Shia cleric--its government, I should say. Its people perhaps don't partake in this thought process, but its government whose head and supreme decisionmaker is a radical Shia cleric has made two decisions: The first is they feel it is their obligation to export their Islamic revolution everywhere in the world, and of course it begins with the Middle East; two, they have decided they want to become the hegemonic power in the region. They want to become the dominant nation, the dominant movement in the Middle East and in that entire region. So how do you achieve that? First, it requires you to drive the Americans out of the area, which is why we have seen them invest in all sorts of asymmetrical capabilities, such as these small little swarm boats they sometimes use to harass U.S. naval vessels. That is why we saw them just a week ago basically hijack a commercial vessel in international waters.…”