Political Quotes

“Mr. President, first I appreciate where we are. This is a bipartisan amendment. It is an amendment with Senator Kirk and Senator Lieberman. It is a continuing perfection of sanctions as it relates to Iran that has been unanimously passed by this body approximately a year ago last December. Iran has set its sights on achieving nuclear weapons capability and this would not be in the national security interests of the United States because we have tens of thousands of our troops who would be in harm's way if Iran had nuclear weapons. It would also not be in our national security interests because we clearly have to ensure that the Straits of Hormuz remain open and accessible and we would be obligated under our NATO agreements to respond should a Shabab missile be launched against one of our allies. Of course a Shabab missile is an Iranian missile that has the type of flight and capability to do so. It is not in our national security interests because the last thing we need is a nuclear arms race in the tinderbox of the world where countries, for example, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia would feel obligated to follow suit if Iran were to become a nuclear power. For all of those reasons among others, it would not be in the national security interests of the United States. That achievement would jeopardize U.S. national security interests, pose an existential threat to the state of Israel, and would result in a nuclear arms race that would further destabilize the region.…”