[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 22 (Thursday, February 3, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S505-S506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  Iran

  Madam President, now, on an entirely different matter, this week, two 
of America's closest partners in the Middle East made history.
  The UAE welcomed a President of Israel for the first time, laying 
another diplomatic stone on the foundation of the Abraham Accords. But 
within mere hours of President Herzog's historic arrival, we were 
reminded of the dangers that an increasingly violent Iran is willing to 
impose on anybody who pursues peace.
  For a third straight week, the UAE was targeted by a Houthi missile 
attack--of course, made possible by Tehran. Last week, the terrorists 
targeted an airbase that hosts 2,000 U.S. personnel, and it was 
American-made missile defense systems that intercepted the strike.
  The United States faces these same Iranian-backed threats, alongside 
partners like Israel and the UAE, but you wouldn't know it--you 
wouldn't know it--by looking at President Biden's foreign policy.
  A year ago, the State Department removed Yemen's Houthi terrorists 
from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Since then, the 
Iranian proxy terrorists have only increased their attacks, 
underwritten by Iranian money and technology--so much so, in fact, 
that, last month, the Biden administration was reportedly considering 
reversing its decision.
  Iran's strategy is to use violence to drive the United States out of 
the Middle East--small wonder they would double down on this strategy 
after the administration's humiliating retreat from Afghanistan--and 
the failure to respond forcefully to Iranian-backed attacks against 
U.S. troops in the region has eroded our deterrence and dramatically 
increased the risk to U.S. personnel.
  If this administration chooses to shrug or look the other way when 
terrorists target our friends and our interests and if they continue to 
withhold military capabilities from partners threatened by Iran, then 
they should not pretend to be surprised when traditional American 
partners in the Middle East start looking to Moscow and to Beijing to 
fill the vacuum.
  Of course, the biggest distraction keeping this administration's 
attention from protecting our interests in the Middle East has been its 
ongoing obsession with returning to the Obama administration's failed 
2015 nuclear agreement.
  Since President Biden took office, he has made rejoining the deal an 
overriding diplomatic objective, but by blaming their predecessor's 
``maximum pressure'' approach and demonstrating an unwillingness to 
respond forcefully to Iranian-backed terrorist attacks, the 
administration has effectively taken the threat of sanctions or 
military action literally off the table, neutering their own diplomacy 
right at the outset. So it is no wonder the hard-liners in Tehran are 
holding out for more concessions from the soft-liners in Washington.
  Now, look. It is not just Republicans who are concerned. Senator 
Menendez recently expressed similar concerns on the Senate floor and 
called upon the Biden administration and our partners to ``exert more 
pressure on Iran to counter its nuclear program, its missile program, 
and its dangerous behavior around the Middle East, including attacks on 
American personnel and assets.''
  Recent reports suggest some of Biden's own diplomats also share these 
concerns and have literally withdrawn from the team over concerns the 
administration's top negotiator is taking too soft a line on Tehran.
  So, a year ago, Republicans made it clear to President Biden that, if 
his administration were interested in having a bipartisan foreign 
policy, they would find willing partners here in the Senate.
  For my part, I recommended the President focus on securing bipartisan

[[Page S506]]

support for promises and threats so they could endure beyond his term 
in office. I urged him not to let the foreign policy of the most 
powerful Nation on Earth be reduced to an Etch A Sketch, starting from 
scratch every 4 years.
  We don't often agree, but I was grateful to hear Chairman Menendez 
concur this week that the ``best guarantee of a sustainable, diplomatic 
agreement with Iran and the international community is to build one 
that garners bipartisan political support.''
  So look. I am still hopeful that President Biden will finally 
recognize how uninterested Tehran is in negotiating in good faith. It 
is certainly not too late to start heeding good advice. It is not too 
late to start ratcheting up the pressure on Tehran and imposing serious 
costs when its proxies dare to challenge the United States. It is not 
too late to try to craft a bipartisan approach to the Middle East. It 
is not too late to have a plan to contest Russian and Chinese influence 
in the Middle East. It is not too late to start nurturing the historic 
Abraham Accords and reassuring partners like Israel and the UAE that 
their engagement is backed by a rock-solid U.S. commitment.
  A year ago, I said Iran was the biggest threat America and its 
partners faced in the Middle East. Unfortunately, a year of Biden 
administration foreign policy has made that even more true.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican whip.
  Mr. THUNE. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be able to 
complete my remarks.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.