[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 208 (Monday, December 18, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Page S6014]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  Iran

  Madam President, the weekend brought even more glaring evidence that 
Iran and its terrorist proxies feel emboldened to escalate their 
attacks in the Middle East.
  In the past 2 months, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have 
reportedly used lethal force and brazen attacks against military and 
commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea.
  Just 2 days ago, the destroyer USS Carney engaged and destroyed at 
least 14 terrorist drones. U.S. Navy vessels have thus far succeeded in 
defending against these attacks. But the risk of American casualties is 
growing. Air defense is not perfect, and it doesn't come cheap. The 
Navy is having to use expensive interceptors to bring down the low-cost 
suicide drones. Commercial vessels have been less fortunate. Several 
ships have been hijacked or struck by drones and anti-ship missiles in 
recent weeks, including two strikes just today.
  This violence represents a grave and immediate economic threat. 
Iran's network of terrorists is making an artery that carries nearly 12 
percent of global trade essentially inoperable. In recent days, four of 
the world's five largest shipping companies have suspended operations 
in the Red Sea. The carriers who account for more than half of maritime 
container traffic are opting to add weeks to transit times and an 
untold extra fuel costs to avoid transit terrorist attack. And supply 
chains everywhere are bracing for the effects.
  Make no mistake, an undeterred adversary is laying down a direct 
challenge to American leadership, and the world is watching to see if 
we rise to meet it the way we have met countless times.
  Protecting the freedom of navigation is an essential American 
interest because maritime commerce has been central to our Nation's 
economy from the very beginning.
  The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps waged their first successful 
expeditionary campaign against the Barbary pirates in order to protect 
American shipping. The ``shores of Tripoli'' are immortalized in the 
Marine Corps hymn. And freedom of navigation operations have been an 
essential part of U.S. power projection ever since.
  In recent years, these operations have been especially important in 
the Indo-Pacific, where China increasingly threatens sealanes. But 
let's be clear: If America conducts freedom of navigation operations as 
peacetime exercises but fails to actually protect this freedom from 
immediate realtime threats, then we are just playacting as a global 
superpower.
  What is happening right now in the Red Sea isn't an exercise. It is a 
blaring siren that deterrence has failed. The United States and our 
allies and partners have a stake in defending the freedom of 
navigation. If we fail to take more serious action against Iran-backed 
Houthi terrorists, we will embolden other aggressors to challenge this 
freedom everywhere and risk major consequences.
  Needless to say, our greatest strategic adversary and systemic rival 
is watching especially closely how we respond to this brazen challenge.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.