Political Quotes

“No, I did not. We talked specifically about his statements. But I understand the concern of the Senator from Arizona about the idea of doing an agreement with the Iranians that would give them money to fund what I think has been a very destructive war machine. From my point of view, we need to look at the Iranian behavior holistically and understand the consequences of flooding this administration with cash--the Iranian administration with cash--given the fact that what they are doing today is using whatever resources they have under sanctions to destabilize the Mideast. I doubt if any additional funds, if sanctions were relieved, would go to build hospitals or roads. I think they would go into the activity you just described. But this conversation was limited to the statement attributed to him yesterday. I think all of us should be very attuned to what is going on with these negotiations, as it is the most important decision any administration will make probably in modern history. The consequences of a bad deal are enormous. You could start a nuclear arms race in the Mideast. At the end of the day, the behavior of the Iranians, apart from their nuclear ambitions, is at best disturbing and should be, in my view, part of any negotiating package. But we are where we are, and I am glad to hear from the Secretary himself that possible military dimensions have to be fully explored and understood before you move forward with an agreement. I yield the floor.…”