[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 84 (Monday, May 18, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2317-S2318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                  Iran

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, this year, at my annual 99 county 
meetings, I was asked about the operations in Iran and was asked the 
question of why the administration's actions were necessary.
  For starters, there are historic reasons the United States must 
address the threat of Iran. ``Death to America,'' we hear from over 
there, and that is death to individual Americans.
  Just recently--last week, for instance--there was an Iraqi indicted. 
He was captured overseas and brought to the United States because his 
sole purpose was to kill people, including even here in America.
  If you go back to 1979, when it started, Iranian revolutionaries 
almost immediately seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 
American hostage for 444 days. One of those Foreign Service officers 
was a native of Waverly, IA.
  Four years later, Iranian-backed terrorist groups carried out a 
suicide car bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. They drove two truck 
bombs into the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut--killing over 250 
Americans.
  In 1996, the Iranian regime carried out another truck bombing near a 
United States Air Force housing complex in Saudi Arabia--killing 19 
Americans and wounding more than 370.
  In 2007, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps carried out a plot in 
Iraq that killed five members of the United States armed services and 
wounded three others.
  And then we all know how destructive the bomb was that we call the 
improvised explosive device that was buried and killed about 600 
American servicepeople and wounded many others.
  Now, what is more is that the regime also continues its efforts to 
build nuclear weapons.
  In 2003, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also known as the 
IAEA, revealed that Iran had engaged in a variety of clandestine 
nuclear-related activities.
  In 2005, the IAEA's Board of Governors found Iran in noncompliance 
with the Agency's safeguard agreements.
  In 2014, the Director of National Intelligence reported to Congress 
that Iran had made substantial progress with its nuclear program.
  In 2025, the IAEA declared that Iran had enough enriched uranium--
just short of weapons grade--to potentially make nine nuclear bombs.
  So Iran is not a distant or theoretical threat. It is a direct U.S. 
national security concern. A nuclear-capable Iran

[[Page S2318]]

would be able to expand its support for global terrorism, threaten 
American forces across the region, and put our allies at immediate 
risk. Over time, Iran's capability could extend beyond the region, 
increasing the risk to the American homeland itself. This presents a 
clear threat that the United States could not afford to ignore.
  I am happy that President Trump took action to address this threat 
that seven previous Presidents did not consider necessary, and I remain 
hopeful that a long-lasting peace agreement can soon be reached.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant executive clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.