Chris Smith: “Mr. Speaker, for far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats, unbridled violence and hate…”

“Mr. Speaker, for far too long, Iran has held the world hostage with its nuclear threats, unbridled violence and hate, pervasive use of torture and rape, and Nazi-like anti-Semitism. Iran is the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism. All diplomatic initiatives to secure peace, justice, and reconciliation with the Iranian dictatorship have been fruitless. President Trump is a man of his word, and he means it when he says that Iran must never be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. Despite ample warnings and admonishments to negotiate seriously, which it has never done, Iran has defied U.S. diplomacy to end its decades-long quest to procure nuclear weapons and cease its despicable violence against Americans, Israelis, and the Iranians themselves. Among the many egregious concessions made in 2015 by President Obama to the Iranians was to get a deal which included removal of a treaty obligation that would have ended Iran's missile program and prevent the production of the ballistic missiles that are today raining down on our American military in the region, Israeli civilians, and our friends in neighboring countries.”