[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 35 (Monday, March 2, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E286-E287]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




UNEQUIVOCAL SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL--AND NO ILLUSIONS ABOUT IRAN'S MURDEROUS 
                               INTENTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 2, 2015

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank my colleague, 
Mr. Stewart, for reserving this time to send a message of vigorous, 
unequivocal, and unflinching U.S. support for Israel.
  Mr. Speaker, on the eve of Prime Minister Netanyahu's historic 
address, we have to join his efforts to set the focus on the 
existential, genocidal threat Iran poses to Israel.
  We have to be realistic about Iranian President Rouhani because many 
in the media--and some in the administration--have been reluctant to do 
that. Rouhani has a long history of murderous anti-Semitism and anti-

[[Page E287]]

Americanism. The corpses are all over the globe.
  Rouhani chaired Iran's National Security Council from 1989 to 2005--
the years when Iran plotted the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish 
cultural center, which killed 85 people in Buenos Aires. The 1996 
attack on the Khobar Towers was also under his tenure--this one killed 
19 U.S. servicemen in Saudi Arabia. He continues to support the global 
terrorism of Hezbollah.
  Likewise, Rouhani's defense minister, Hossein Dehghan, participated 
in plotting the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Beirut--this crime 
took the lives of 241 Americans, including Paul Innocenzi from my 
district. His Justice Minister, Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, played a role 
in 1988 and 1998 in the summary executions of Iranian political 
prisoners and killings of intellectuals, as well as assassinations 
abroad.
  Mr. Speaker, this is the man that our government and Prime Minister 
Netanyahu are dealing with. For 16 years Rouhani ran Iran's nuclear 
program. He has boasted openly of his success in using negotiations as 
a tool to buy time to advance his program.
  The question before us is whether the agreement President Obama is 
trying to close with Rouhani is yet another deal favorable to the 
Iranian government, allowing it to move the hand on the nuclear clock 
yet closer to midnight.
  There are many signs that this is the case. Most reports on the 
negotiations are that the administration is not trying to prevent a 
nuclear Iran, but only to preserve some ``breakout time''--yet will not 
require the kind of transparency to make even that a remotely reliable 
measure. Even worse, it seems the administration is prepared to accept 
a ``sunset clause''--a date after which Iranian nuclear arms would be 
completely legitimated. And the deal being crafted reportedly ignores 
Iran's ballistic missile program.
  All this amounts to a potential catastrophe. Unfortunately, the 
administration seems to have telegraphed its determination to get a 
deal with Rouhani--almost any deal--and to shut Congress out. This is 
why I am concerned, and why we in Congress and the American people need 
to hear all the more from Prime Minister Netanyahu.
  Let's let the Prime Minister know that Congress and the American 
people stand with Israel, without any `ifs,' or `buts,' or `so long 
as,' or any other qualifiers, and without any illusions about the 
murderous and manipulative intentions of Rouhani. I'd like to close by 
thanking Speaker Boehner for inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu.

                          ____________________