Political Quotes

“Today I voted for H.R. 3364, the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Roll no. 413). This legislation is an important step forward in punishing Russia for its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and for the country's alleged interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. The bill also updates and expands sanctions on North Korea at a time when the country continues to pursue dangerous weapons programs. Further, I commend leadership and committee members in the House and Senate for ensuring that the Iran sanctions portion of this legislation does not violate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between Iran, the United States, and five major world powers, including Russia and China. While the Iranian ballistic missile program is deeply concerning and must be addressed, undermining the nuclear agreement, which has forced Iran to remove thousands of centrifuges from service and halt all uranium enrichment, would be a mistake of tragic proportions. The bipartisan support for the bill should be a signal to the administration to refrain from taking action that would encourage Iran to change course. To be sure, Iran has some unsavory hardline people in key positions of leadership, but these hardliners just suffered a major defeat in the Iranian elections. President Hassan Rouhani has been a voice of and a force for moderation--and people voted for him.…”