Michael Waltz: “Qasem Soleimani, as we have discussed, many of us have discussed here today, was a terrorist and a terrorist supporter…”

“Qasem Soleimani, as we have discussed, many of us have discussed here today, was a terrorist and a terrorist supporter, and hundreds of American troops were killed because of him. Many of them are scarred for life. I don't think we can overstate, in this body, how gruesome, how advanced, how effective the explosive devices that he poured into his militias were. They were deadly. They were manufactured in Iran. They were put in place by Iran. They were trained by Iran. They had the capability to completely penetrate our armored vehicles. Soleimani worked hand in hand, in addition to this, with Assad in Syria, a serial human rights abuser, and waged even chemical warfare on his own people, literally killing tens of thousands. And because of him, today, hundreds, if not thousands, of families, including Gold Star families, just this past holiday, couldn't open up presents with their loved ones. No longer will they celebrate birthdays or holidays because of this one evil man. This terrorist, because of his savage actions, I, as a former Green Beret who operated against these thugs for years, am grateful to the intelligence officer, as my colleague Mr. Kinzinger just mentioned, to the members of the military who carried out this mission to prevent more lives from being lost. Soleimani was actively planning attacks in the coming weeks, in the coming days, in the coming months.…”