[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 2 (Thursday, January 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S42-S43]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  Iran

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, I have two topics I want to speak about 
today; one is Iran.
  There is no question that Iran is the principal state sponsor of 
terrorism in the world. Both the Obama administration and the Trump 
administration have without hesitation made that point. The Iranian 
regime provides money and it provides material support for groups such 
as Hamas and Hezbollah and a host of other terrorist groups. They have 
threatened to wipe out Israel, one of our closest allies. Their threat 
is to frankly wipe Israel off the map. And they have systematically 
trampled on the fundamental freedoms that all people everywhere would 
want to have. They have done that by taking those freedoms away from 
their own citizens and those human rights away from their own citizens.
  In recent days, we have seen what happens after a decade of that kind 
of corruption and oppression. Protesters began a week ago to protest. 
It was, by all accounts, unexpected by the previous protest groups, by 
the military, or by the government. It spread to at least 50 cities, 
where brave people wanting to stand up--and in the streets began 
standing up by the thousands--to protest a government that denies them 
their rights, a government that has impoverished their country while it 
funnels billions of dollars to terrorists across the Middle East and 
across the world.
  Where did those dollars come from? Unfortunately, too many of those 
dollars came from us.
  I came to the floor, to this spot, nearly 2 years ago to ask that 
same question about where that money came from, after the Obama 
administration paid Iran what amounted to $1.7 billion in what appeared 
to be a ransom for the release of five American hostages. At the time 
it was explained: Well, this is just money that we have had for a long 
time, which was part of an economic agreement, a foreign military sale 
that we have held on to. It turned out that the story was not true. We 
later learned that $400 million of that payment was delivered in 
pallets of cash that came off an airplane. The pallets were stacked 
high with cash. And, on top of the $100 billion in sanction relief, we 
had another stack of billions of dollars in just straight cash--the 
sanctions relief, under the terribly thought-out Iranian nuclear deal, 
and the cash to apparently grease the skids so that agreement and 
others could happen.
  We have heard of other things in recent days where the administration 
turned its back on bad things that were happening in order to see that 
the Iranian deal was going to go through. Now, if the Iranian deal had 
been a good deal, that would have been one thing, but to turn your back 
on bad things so that another bad thing can happen is even worse.
  So where is this money going? Protesters have seen that the money 
that we delivered to them and the sanctions relief that we delivered to 
them didn't go to them and didn't go to their economy. It continued to 
finance terror around the world and war in other countries.
  The State Department, once again, in their assessment said:

       Iran remained the foremost state sponsor of terrorism in 
     2016 as groups supported by Iran maintained their capability 
     to threaten U.S. interests and allies. The Iranian Islamic 
     Revolutionary Guard Corps--Qods Force, along with Iranian 
     partners, allies, and proxies, continued to play a 
     destabilizing role in military conflicts in Iraq, Syria, and 
     Yemen.

  Those assessments always come about a year late, after you have had 
time to assess the previous year. I have no doubt that the same 
assessment for 2016 will also be the assessment for the year we just 
ended--2017.
  Frankly, the Iranian people are tired of it. They are angry. They are 
putting their lives on the line to protest.
  The response of the Iranian Government has been predictable. First of 
all, they blame others for creating these problems. They said that we 
were agitating those freedom fighters in their country, those freedom 
protesters. They censored access to the social media. They have cracked 
down by arresting hundreds of people. The reports are that at least 20 
people have been killed.
  It is clear that their behavior hasn't changed; the hope that the 
Iranian deal would somehow bring the long sought-after moderates in the 
current government to the forefront has not happened. We should support 
the Iranian people.
  I join the administration in expressing my support for the men and 
women, young and old, and the courage that they have demonstrated as 
they stand up and try to achieve the greatness of that country, with 
its long heritage and its incredible assets in location and in 
resources, which they should be able to achieve; they just have not 
been allowed to do that.
  The last time this happened, our country was very quiet. This time, 
our government is speaking up. Hopefully, others will join in. The 
European countries have more economic impact in Iran than we do, and 
there is a good reason for that. We have been very thoughtful of 
wanting to support this regime. They have not. It is time for them to 
speak up as well.
  So I join the administration, I join the President, and I encourage 
friends of freedom around the world to not let this moment pass again--
to not, one more time, act as if nothing has happened, and that, 
somehow, this is exactly what the Iranian Government says it is, 
because it is almost never what the Iranian Government says it is. We 
wish for those who care about freedom to stand up and defend and 
encourage those who are seeking a greater freedom.

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