[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 179 (Tuesday, October 31, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5242-S5244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       Nomination of Jacob J. Lew

  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, 3 weeks ago, Iranian-backed Hamas 
terrorists murdered 33 Americans and 1,400 Israelis in the deadliest 
terrorist attack since September 11, 2001. These depraved savages 
killed more Jews in a single day than any time since the Holocaust.
  Israel is now at war and on the verge of what could be its bloodiest 
battle in a generation. And the struggle is real. It is not only 
fighting Hamas and Gaza, it is fighting a confederation of Iranian-
trained, funded, and armed terrorist organizations. From the Houthis in 
Yemen to Hezbollah in Lebanon, to Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the West 
Bank, Iran is besieging Israel by proxy. At the same time, Iran is 
conducting extensive attacks against Americans in the region.
  Since Joe Biden took office, Iran and its proxies have attacked 
American forces more than 100 times.
  Let me say that again: 100 times.
  That is why we need a person of strength as the U.S. Ambassador in 
Israel. We need an ambassador who is a champion of the American-Israeli 
relationship who can bridge the Democratic-driven divide in the 
alliance. We need an ambassador who is clear-eyed about the Iranian 
threat and prepared to confront it.
  Instead, President Biden has nominated Jack Lew, who at times seems a 
better friend to Tehran than Jerusalem. The U.S. Senate should reject 
this nomination to be Ambassador to Israel. A vote for him is a vote to 
subvert, not strengthen, our ally in its time of need.
  As President Obama's Treasury Secretary, Jack Lew was the leading 
proponent of the disastrous Iran nuclear deal. The deal delivered more 
than $100 billion to the ayatollahs. Mr. Lew called the agreement a 
strong deal and said:

       [I]t will make our country safer, it will make our allies 
     safer, and it will make the world safer.

  He apparently didn't consult our allies, though, before making that 
statement because our allies in Israel certainly didn't agree. In fact, 
Prime Minister Netanyahu called the agreement ``a very bad deal.'' And 
one poll found that 73 percent of Jewish Israelis believed that the 
deal posed an existential threat to the Jewish State.
  Prime Minister Netanyahu was so opposed to the Iran deal, which Mr. 
Lew championed, that he traveled to the United States and addressed a 
joint session of this Congress to urge our opposition.
  Mr. Lew condemned Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech as ``beyond the 
pale'' and ``a huge mistake.'' Apparently, Mr. Lew also did not consult 
our own Democratic leader, the Senator from New York, who also voted 
against the disastrous Iran deal.
  Worse still, Mr. Lew stood with President Obama when he refused to 
veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israel. 
This was nothing but an act of spite by Barack Obama against Israel's 
leadership. Yet Mr. Lew stood by his boss, dismissively asserting that 
``I don't think it's a great thing for Israel to always have only the 
United States standing between it and condemnation.''
  So, according to Mr. Lew, I guess it is better to have Israel 
condemned than to have Israel's back. Mr. Lew, apparently, doesn't 
understand that doing what is right is sometimes lonely business.
  The next American Ambassador to Israel must be prepared for the hard 
and lonely work of sometimes standing up against the rest of the region 
and, indeed, the rest of the world in defense of American and Israeli 
interests.
  Mr. Lew's glib comments demonstrate that he lacks either the nerve or 
the will to stand up for Israel when it really matters and the chips 
are down, as they are today.
  But Mr. Lew didn't just advocate on behalf of the Iran nuclear deal 
or attack its Israeli critics; he lied to Congress to protect the 
deal--indeed, to go beyond what the nuclear deal required. Mr. Lew told 
the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the summer of 2015 that Iran 
would ``continue to be denied access to the [American] financial and 
commercial market.''
  Mr. Lew also testified that Iranian banks ``will continue to be 
denied access to the world's largest financial and commercial market.''
  But 7 months later, in early 2016, Jack Lew's Treasury Department 
granted a license to convert almost $6 billion of Iranian assets into 
American currency using our financial system. This was not required by 
the Iran nuclear deal. This went over and above the dictates of that 
deal. But apparently Barack Obama and Jack Lew felt bad for the 
murderous ayatollahs because they weren't getting enough economic 
benefit out of the deal.
  He even pressured two American banks to complete the transaction, and 
they, sanely and patriotically, said: No thanks. We don't want to touch 
Iran's blood money.
  If that is not lying to Congress, I don't really know what is. But in 
addition to lying, Mr. Lew neglected to inform Congress that his 
department was sending its representatives around the world to 
encourage foreign countries and companies to do business with Iran.
  According to a Senate committee report, authored by former Senator 
Robert Portman, the Treasury and State Department conducted more the 
200 so-called road shows in foreign cities to encourage economic 
engagement with Tehran.

[[Page S5243]]

  Again, this is not required by the nuclear deal with Iran. Nothing 
said Jack Lew and his agents at Treasury had to act as the de facto 
investment bankers and business agents for the murderous ayatollahs.
  He apparently felt so much sympathy for the ayatollahs that he and 
John Kerry, as Secretary of State, would send their agents all around 
the world, hustling up business for Iran's terror regime.
  And now this is the man who is going to represent American interests 
in Jerusalem? The Senate should not confirm Jack Lew, a man who has 
lied to Congress both by omission and overt dishonesty. The Senate 
should likewise not confirm a man who has acted as the de facto 
business investment banker and business agent for the blood-thirsty 
ayatollahs.
  Mr. Lew's supporters have claimed that although flawed, we need an 
ambassador to Israel during this crisis, and Mr. Lew is the man in 
offering. But the fact is, no one is better than Jack Lew. And the 
sooner we defeat his nomination, the sooner we can find someone worthy 
of this critical post.
  I know my Democratic friends say we have to confirm Mr. Lew to show 
our support for Israel. I would turn that around and say: We have to 
defeat Mr. Lew's nomination to show that our Nation is finally serious 
about confronting the ayatollahs in Iran. And there is no clearer or 
immediate action that Senators could take to show a new direction for 
U.S. policy on Iran than to reject the nomination of one of the 
architects of the Iran nuclear deal.
  Both the United States and Israel deserve a lot better than Jack Lew. 
I urge my colleagues to oppose his nomination.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted 
to speak for up to 2 minutes and Senator Cardin be permitted to speak 
for up to 5 minutes prior to the scheduled rollcall vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I rise in opposition to this nomination, 
and I rise in support of our strong support for Israel. I understand it 
is important to move as quickly as we can to have an ambassador in 
Jerusalem. We are at an important moment in history with the events in 
Israel. This makes the stakes so much higher and important that we get 
it right. I believe it means we should take the time to get it right.
  This appointment that has been made is very disappointing. As my 
colleague just mentioned, it really ignores the fact that the 
underlying problem here is our policy and policies toward Iran. 
Certainly, we all talk about Hamas. They have done horrible things. The 
horrific attack on Israel, where they beheaded babies, killed innocent 
men and women in their beds sometimes, really, really deserves a 
response. But it also deserves for us to look at the underlying problem 
here, which is Iran.
  Hamas would not exist if it were not for Iran. Iran arms them, trains 
them, finances them, and directs them. We all know that. So how does 
that fit in with this particular appointment?
  Well, Mr. Lew did some things which were very much contrary, I 
believe, to what needs to be done in order for us to redo our policies 
toward Iran. When it came to the JCPOA--which, as we all know, there 
was a difference between our side of the aisle and the other side of 
the aisle on whether we should do the JCPOA or not--Mr. Lew was heavily 
involved in that. He promised us in the committee that he would not 
allow Iran to have access to the U.S. financial system. We know, for a 
fact, that after that, although he denied it, he did, in fact, attempt 
his very best to have Iran have access to the U.S. financial system. 
This is borne out by an official report of the U.S. Senate by the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. They interviewed the banks 
that Mr. Lew attempted to twist their arms to give Iran access to the 
financial system. There was a very detailed investigation that was done 
on the facts. The facts are contained in this report.
  My good friends will say: Oh, but that wasn't a bipartisan report. It 
is an official report by the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 
My friends on the other side of the aisle, though, will not deny the 
facts that are in this report. And the facts are that Mr. Lew is 
involved in this, as I have described.
  I want to support Israel. I think everybody on this floor wants to 
support Israel. The last thing we need is somebody who is very contrary 
to our view on how Iran should be handled.
  Mr. Lew's response to this was: Well, everybody knew what Obama's 
policies were, and, therefore, everybody should have known that we 
would do anything to blindly support the policies.
  That is wrong. This is the wrong way to go about it. This is the 
wrong person, at the wrong time, in the wrong place. We should vote no 
and support Israel.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, a little over a week ago, I was in Israel 
with 10 U.S. Senators meeting with the Israeli leadership. I must tell 
you, they are very much looking forward to having a confirmed 
ambassador from the United States in Jerusalem to help in regard to the 
challenges they are now facing as a result of Hamas's terrorist attack 
in Israel. And they are very much looking forward to Jack Lew being 
that ambassador. We heard that directly.
  His nomination has been welcomed by the Israelis, including Israel's 
Foreign Minister, who said he looks forward to working with him. The 
former Israeli Ambassador to the United States wrote that Lew is ``a 
true statesman, a passionate Jew and a mensch in every sense of the 
word.'' He has the support of the Jerusalem Post, the Orthodox Union 
Advocacy Center, the Anti-Defamation League. The list goes on and on 
and on. Why? Because he is so well qualified for this position. He has 
been confirmed by the Senate as a former Secretary of Treasury, as a 
Deputy Secretary of State, as an OMB Director. And the list goes on and 
on and on. He was confirmed by an overwhelming majority. It gives us 
the person as our representative to Israel who has the gravitas to 
stand shoulder to shoulder with Israel as the United States partners in 
the challenges that they are facing today.
  So there is, to me, no question about his qualifications, no question 
about his presence being welcomed by our Israeli friends, no question 
about his knowledge and commitment to these issues. He has worked 
almost his entire life, in part, to strengthen the U.S.-Israel 
partnership. He knows the values. He testified to that during this 
confirmation hearing. And he testified in regard to the issues that my 
Republican friends are raising, the issues of whether he was forthright 
with Congress--and he was.
  He pointed out that in regard to opening up the banking for Iran, it 
was to comply with the JCPOA that was negotiated by the Obama 
administration and which the Republicans were opposed to. And I opposed 
that agreement.
  I helped work with Senator Corker, then chairman of the Senate 
Foreign Relations Committee--I was ranking Democrat at the time--to 
develop a process where we would not be surprised by these negotiations 
and that we would have input into these negotiations. That process 
passed the Senate by a near-unanimous vote.
  As part of that process, we had indepth discussions with the Obama 
administration, including Secretary Lew, including Secretary Moniz, and 
others, who shared with us exactly what was being negotiated. We knew 
that there was going to be a transfer of funds in regards to the JCPOA. 
We recognized that the banking system would be open for that limited 
purpose.
  That is not misleading us. It is telling us exactly what we knew was 
going to happen before we took it up under the review statute. It is 
just not right to say he misled us. He did not. The report they are 
referring to was a partisan report issued by the Republicans. There is 
a reason why it was not bipartisan. They were just trying to double 
down on their opposition to the JCPOA.
  Israel needs a strong U.S. Ambassador who will represent America and 
be their partner in taking on one of the greatest struggles in their 
history--the terrorist attack by Hamas that they did on October 7. We 
need a confirmed ambassador who is knowledgeable as to how they could 
represent over half a

[[Page S5244]]

million Americans who are currently in Israel. We need Jack Lew's 
expertise to help us get the hostages back safely on the ground in 
Israel.
  I want to thank Secretary Lew for being willing at this time, at this 
critical moment, to serve his country in this critically important 
position, and I would hope my colleagues would vote for his 
confirmation, recognizing that we could not have a more qualified 
individual to represent America as our Ambassador to Israel.
  I yield the floor.