[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 10]
[House]
[Pages 13785-13788]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




      IRAN'S PAST BEHAVIOR IS AN INDICATOR OF ITS FUTURE BEHAVIOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Russell) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. RUSSELL. Mr. Speaker, it is a psychological fact of life that, 
when it comes to human beings, the best predictor of future behavior is 
past behavior, period, end of story.
  Psychologists who study human behavior agree that past behavior is a 
useful marker for future behavior, but only under certain specific 
conditions. For example, high-frequency, habitual behaviors are more 
predictive than infrequent behaviors. Predictions work best if done 
over short periods of time, based upon these behaviors. The anticipated 
situation must be essentially the same as the past situation that 
activated the behavior in the first place. Also, the behavior did not 
change by corrective or negative action or feedback. The person must 
remain essentially unchanged in their consistent behavior. The person 
must be fairly consistent in his or her behaviors over time.
  Forensic psychologists that observe such behavior often use metaphor 
to warn of serious danger by referring to such individuals as ``a 
ticking time bomb'' or as one ``carrying a hand grenade, and it is just 
a matter of when the pin is pulled.''
  What happens if we apply these same criteria to Iran's behavior? The 
result is the same. Psychologically, there is no reason to expect 
future behavioral change, given Iran's 36 years of bad behavior.
  The record of history since 1979 is clear with regard to Iran's 
actions with the West and, in particular, the United States. For 30 of 
those 36 years, the United States has declared Iran as the most active 
state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
  For 36 years, Iran has brutally murdered more Americans than any 
other terror group or state sponsor of terror. Their clerics have 
declared fatwas on the United States; their leaders have dubbed us the 
Great Satan and have called Israel a one-bomb state, with pledges to 
eliminate their existence.

                              {time}  2115

  That brutal behavior earned them treatment, and rightfully so, as a 
pariah, shunned by global economy, diplomacy, and withholding 
international goodwill.
  So what a fantastic time to accommodate a terrorist state and make a 
deal.
  Some, such as Secretary of State John Kerry, dismiss all of Iran's 
reticence as posturing rhetoric. How in God's name can we be so naive 
at the highest levels of our Republic to believe it?
  How in God's name can we judge Iran's actions worthy of fair 
treatment and goodwill?
  Perhaps we should take the teachings of Christ as a guide when he 
stated:

       Every good tree bears good fruit. A good tree cannot bear 
     bad fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Therefore, by 
     their fruits, you will know them.

  Christ's words, of course, are true. Iranian deeds speak louder than 
words. The problem is both word and deed are reprehensible, which 
should cause us even more alarm.
  Don't believe me? Here are the facts of Iranian actions under this 
regime.
  1979, hostage crisis. From the moment this regime came into being, 
the first act was to overrun the United States Embassy in Tehran, 
terrorizing 66 American hostages for 444 days, most of them, and 
forcing abandonment of our U.S. Embassy and consulates.
  1982-1992, Lieutenant Colonel William Buckley, the CIA Station Chief 
and Vietnam warrior, decorated for valor, is tortured and brutally 
murdered.
  David Anderson, a reporter of great renown, was captured and held for 
7 years.
  American University President David Dodge was captured and held for a 
year.
  1983, April 18, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut is bombed, murdering 63, 
17 of them Americans. The entire CIA Middle East contingent is 
reportedly murdered. The entire operation was directed by Hezbollah and 
financed by Iran.
  October 23, the United States Marine barracks in Beirut was destroyed 
by

[[Page 13786]]

the largest nonnuclear explosion detonated on Earth by the hand of an 
Iranian terrorist; 241 United States Marines are slaughtered, and 100 
are wounded.
  During the same attack, the French barracks are destroyed by another 
Iranian terrorist bomb that murders 58 French paratroopers.
  December 12, 1983, the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait was bombed by Iranian 
terrorists from Iranian-backed Hezbollah and Dawa, murdering 5 and 
wounding 86. Seventeen members of the Dawa are captured and arrested in 
connection. Iranian-sponsored terrorist acts then are perpetrated for 
years to come to try to negotiate their release.
  1984, September 20, United States Embassy annex in Beirut is 
destroyed by Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists, murdering 22 
civilians and 2 U.S. soldiers.
  1985, June 14, Trans World Airlines Flight 847 hijacked with 160 
hostages. Robert Dean Stetham, a United States Navy diver, is forced to 
kneel in front of an open aircraft door, shot in the back of the head, 
and dumped onto the tarmac. The remaining hostages are released, 
following terrorist releases from prisons in Israel and Lebanon.
  1989, July 13, Dr. Abdul Rahman Ghassemlou, the Secretary General of 
the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran, was assassinated by Iranian 
operatives, along with two associates in Vienna, where he was secretly 
meeting with envoys sent by then-Iranian President Akbar Hashemi 
Rafsanjani.
  1991, August 8, the assassination of Shapour Bakhtiar, who was the 
last Iranian Prime Minister prior to the
Islamic Revolution by Iranian operatives. In a botched attempt on 
Bakhtiar's life in a Paris suburb before in 1980, his assailants 
murdered a French policeman and a female neighbor.
  1992, March 17, the Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Aires, 
Argentina. Iran's terrorist proxy, Hezbollah, perpetrated the suicide 
bomb attack on the Israeli Embassy in Argentina, which murdered 29 
people and wounded 242 others, the great majority of which were 
civilian bystanders in the vicinity of the embassy.
  On the 17th of September 1992, Kurdish leader Dr. Mohammad Sadegh 
Saeid Sharafkandi and three other Iranian Kurds were assassinated at 
the Mykonos Cafe in Berlin. German courts linked the Iranian Government 
and Minister of Intelligence, Ali Fallahian, to the assassination.
  1994, July 18, Iran was directly responsible for the Argentinian-
Israeli Mutual Association Jewish community center bombing in Buenos 
Aires, Argentina, which murdered 85 and wounded 300. The AMIA attack 
remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina's history.
  In 2006, an Argentine court ``declared former Iranian President 
Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others fugitives from justice in 
Argentina'' for their role in the AMIA bombing.
  1996, June 25, 14 members of the Iranian-backed Saudi branch of 
Hezbollah detonated a massive bomb in front of the Khobar Towers, a 
U.S. military housing complex in Saudi Arabia. The terrorist attack 
murdered 19 Americans and wounded 372 of our service men and women.
  The attackers detonated a parked truck laden with the equivalent of 
somewhere between 3,000 and 8,000 pounds of explosive in the Khobar 
Towers parking lot. The resulting explosion ``sheared the face off an 
eight-story structure which housed U.S. Air Force personnel.''
  2003-2011, following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran undermined 
U.S. operations by ``consistently supplying weapons, its own advisers, 
and Iranian proxy Hezbollah advisers from Lebanon to multiple residence 
groups, both Sunni and Shia,'' which targeted Coalition Forces.
  For the U.S., ``concern revolved around Iran's role in arming and 
assisting the Shiite militias.'' In Iraq, ``the top killer of U.S. 
troops'' were IEDs, or improvised explosive devices, which were 
primarily supplied by Iran. In total, Iran's support for Iraqi 
insurgents led to the death of thousands of U.S. soldiers and others in 
Iraq.
  In 2010, United States Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey stated, ``Up 
to a quarter, or 1,200 of the American casualties, and some of the more 
horrific incidents in which Americans were kidnapped can be traced 
without doubt to these Iranian groups.''
  I should also personally note that many were my friends, and all were 
my brothers and sisters as fellow warriors.
  2006-2015, Iranian support for the Taliban against United States 
troops in Afghanistan has been ongoing since at least 2006. According 
to a RAND report, ``although Iran has traditionally backed Tajik and 
Shia groups opposed to the Taliban, its enmity with the United States 
and tensions over the nuclear program led it to provide measured 
support to the Taliban.''
  According to the Treasury Department, ``since at least 2006, Iran has 
arranged frequent shipments of small arms and associated ammunition, 
rocket-propelled grenades, mortar rounds, 107 mm rockets, plastic 
explosives, and probably man-portable defense systems to the Taliban.''
  A member of my own staff left limbs in Afghanistan by these devices.
  Through ``Qods force materials support,'' the report states, ``we 
believe Iran is seeking to inflict casualties on U.S. and NATO 
forces.'' In 2010, multiple media sources reported Iran as ``paying 
Taliban fighters $1,000 for each U.S. soldier they kill in 
Afghanistan.'' This is currently.
  Over a 6-month period in 2010, one ``Taliban treasurer'' claimed to 
have collected more than $77,000 from an Iranian firm in Kabul as 
payment for killing Americans.
  2011, October, U.S. authorities thwarted a terrorist plot in this 
town, Washington, D.C., which included ``the assassination of Saudi 
Arabian Ambassador to the United States and subsequent bomb attacks on 
Saudi and Israeli Embassies.''
  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated that the plot was ``directed 
and approved by elements of the Iranian Government and, specifically, 
senior members of the Quds Force''--in this town. The two individuals 
charged were ``Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old naturalized U.S. 
citizen holding both Iranian and U.S. passports, and Gholam Shakuri, an 
Iran-based member of Iran's Quds Force.''
  U.S. authorities arrested Arbabsiar on September 29, 2011, with 
Shakuri remaining at large.
  2012, in March, Azerbaijan. United States and Israeli officials were 
among those targeted for assassination by a group of the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guard Corps from Iran-linked terrorists. They were 
arrested in Baku, Azerbaijan.
  According to The Washington Post, ``United States and Middle Eastern 
officials now see the attempts as part of a broader campaign by Iran-
linked operatives to kill foreign diplomats in at least seven countries 
over a span of 13 months.''
  How right they were.
  13-14 February, New Delhi, India, the wife of Israeli Defense attache 
and her driver were wounded after a device attached to their car 
exploded. The Delhi police concluded that the suspects were members of 
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
  A similar device was defused in Tbilisi, Georgia, after being 
discovered on the underside of an Israeli diplomat's car.
  The following day, three Iranian men accidentally detonated a cache 
of explosives--darn--in Bangkok, Thailand. The explosives were intended 
to be used to assassinate Israeli diplomats. A multinational 
investigation has produced ``the clearest evidence yet that Iran was 
involved'' in all three plots.
  18 July, a suicide bomber destroyed an Israeli tour bus in Burgas, 
Bulgaria, murdering the bus driver and five Israelis, and wounding more 
than 30 others. In an investigation in 2012, the Bulgarian Government 
found Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, responsible for the attack.
  Behavior, behavior, 36 consistent years. But now President Obama 
wants to negotiate with terrorists to prevent war.
  Mr. Speaker, we are not the attackers here. Threat of war only comes 
from the United States when we are bullied, cajoled, attacked, or 
threatened. The President and Secretaries Kerry, Lew, and Moniz want us 
to show goodwill for bad behavior.

[[Page 13787]]

  The American people are against it, as evidenced by the strong 
opposition from the majority of Americans who rightly deduce the deal 
would allow nuclear capacity for Iran and makes a legal path to possess 
weapons of mass destruction.
  The President often makes political speeches demanding we keep 
dangerous firearms out of the hands of those with psychological 
problems, yet, under identical behavioral criteria, he would give 
nuclear capacity to Iran.
  While public multiple-victim shootings are horrific, imagine an Iran 
with a nuclear capacity. Given Iran's prolific use of every form of 
weaponry and export of terror, are our leaders so naive to think Iran's 
behavior would be any better than putting a weapon in the hands of a 
psychologically consistent and dangerous individual?
  Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior. Any 
psychologist or criminologist will tell you this, yet the President is 
selling us on the deluded hope that this is somehow the right and only 
path to take. Nonsense.
  No alternative you say? How can that be?
  Our own administration does not even realize that Iran's 
interpretation of this very deal and ours are separated by a fairly 
problematic gulf.
  In the last month, even the last few days, Iran's President Rouhani 
and his foreign ministry have made public statements that declare the 
following regarding this good deal. According to Iran and its 
statements from its leaders, here is what they think they have agreed 
to:
  Iran can pursue the development of missiles without any restriction.
  They can violate the U.N. resolutions without violating the 
agreement. Iran says it is not a treaty but binding.
  Iran can violate the U.N. Security Council Resolution without 
violating the JCPOA, or the agreement.
  Iran intends to violate the United Nations Security Council 
Resolution restrictions on weapons sales and imports. In fact, they are 
already negotiating with Russia for the sale of SS-300 and -400 
missiles.

                              {time}  2130

  And Iran also has not agreed to inspect Parchin itself, but it will 
refuse to let anyone else inspect it.
  These are from their own statements in recent days. Iran's public 
statements declare, Mr. Speaker, that all sanctions will be lifted.
  Under Iran's interpretation and even in the stated language of the 
agreement, this includes those, such as the Islamic Revolutionary 
Guards Corps--they are in the agreement; they are listed--and the Quds 
Force, the same organization that we just itemized all of these 
terrorist acts, both of these groups. Two of the most reprehensible 
terrorist organizations in the world are in this agreement for 
sanctions to be lifted. Read them. Annex II sanctions list. I have.
  This flies in the face of our President's own statements and 
reassurances. Under Secretary of Treasury Szubin assures us that 
sanctions on these organizations will be maintained.
  Secretary of Treasury Lew even goes further and has stated recently 
that, ``We will not be providing any sanctions relief to any of these 
lines of activity and will not be delisting from sanctions the Islamic 
Revolutionary Guards Corps, the Quds Force, or any of their 
subsidiaries or senior officials.''
  Then, why are they in the deal? According to the agreement and even 
Iran's recent public statements, they believe that they will be lifted.
  Terrorists Soleimani, A.Q. Khan, numerous organizations that I have 
had to fight on battlefields, now we will reward their bad behavior 
with goodwill.
  The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Quds Force are both 
listed in this agreement and have sanctions against them lifted, 
according to interpretations of its terms. What a great deal. There is 
none better. This is the best we can do.
  President Hassan Rouhani declared last month, ``After the agreement 
is implemented, the economic sanctions will be immediately removed, 
meaning, financial, banking, insurance, transportation, petrochemical 
sanctions. All economic sanctions will be removed.''
  Congratulations, Mr. President, on that good deal and that goodwill.
  Mr. Speaker, our Nation is in grave danger. We are trusting a 
psychologically fanatical and terrorist State with 36 consistent years 
of bad behavior to now behave well.
  Perhaps the only thing missing to shore up the President and 
Secretary Kerry's reassurances is perhaps an airplane on the tarmac 
with an open door with our United States leader waving a document in 
his hand, declaring, ``Peace in our time.''
  The power of this Nation only rests with the consent of the people. 
That is where the Congress, both parties, this august body, comes in.
  But now our President even wants to find a political way to strip the 
American people from a vote by their duly elected representatives to 
avoid the optics of an opposition.
  I guess he and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran do have something 
very much in common after all: not allowing a vote in their respective 
legislative bodies. One would expect that from a fanatical, unstable, 
religious dictatorship, but not in the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, the President is outside his constitutional authority. 
No other President in the history of our Nation has ever cobbled 
together sanctions provisions meant to prevent nuclear capacity, to 
provide a de facto treaty with a foreign rogue State and give them what 
the sanctions were intended to deny.
  The President has acted without the consent of the people. Therefore, 
Mr. Speaker, the people, through their duly elected Representatives, 
will now act without the consent of the President.
  Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution, a document I 
have defended since I was 18, states that the power to regulate 
commerce with foreign nations rests in the Congress of these United 
States.
  Article II, Section 2, states that the President can only make a 
binding treaty with a foreign nation upon two-thirds consent with the 
Senate.
  Mr. Speaker, the President states that this is not a treaty. We 
agree. And, therefore, constitutionally, we are not bound to abide by 
it. Neither are the States.
  The Supremacy Clause does not apply here. It is not a treaty. Not 
having the effect of treaty law, the States are free to act. And today 
they are and will. And we will.
  I call upon my colleagues, people that have taken an oath to support 
and defend this republic, to stand with me.
  We will declare the lifting of sanctions of terrorists as laid out in 
the agreement as null and void. It is illegal under past U.S. sanctions 
law.
  We will uphold United States sanctions law against executive fiat 
action. We will make explicit the sense of Congress in upcoming State 
actions both legally and economically.
  We will prevent the lifting of sanctions on scores of those listed in 
the agreement, thereby violating section 37 of Annex II of the Iran 
deal.
  We will send a strong message to Iran that the power of this republic 
does not rest with its President. It rests by the consent of the 
people. We are bound to uphold that trust as our constitutional duty.
  Mr. Speaker, I also call upon Americans to stand with me. Pound the 
White House with calls and emails. Support State legislative actions 
and sanctions. Support your representatives, both State and assembly, 
and your U.S. Representatives in this fight.
  We ask the people to support us in this fight, not shoot us in the 
back, regardless of political party with anger and cynicism, leveling 
blame on those who oppose this deal rather than on the one who has 
created it.
  Then, if we do this, what will the future look like? It will look 
like an Iran contained, not an Iran accommodated. It will look like a 
Nation that led rather than cowered.
  It will have a United States that stands firm when Iran, a signatory 
to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, does--if they ever do--decide 
to go rogue, will be like North Korea, when a previous administration 
assured us

[[Page 13788]]

that, if we reached out to them with the IAEA and lifting of sanctions 
and easing, that they would come around.
  They abandoned it. We should have known it. Their bad behavior was 
consistent. That future was predictable. They have nuclear weapons, and 
we knew it. We said we could trust them in a similar agreement.
  But our country will stand for free people and free economies on this 
globe. It is what we do. And if we fail in that task, who will take our 
place?
  How we fight today determines how we shape tomorrow. Accommodating 
terrorists and nations with 36 consistent years of bad behavior is not 
the best deal we have. If Iran, like Libya, displays good behavior 
first, then we will have a basis for discussion and follow-on goodwill, 
which we saw in that case.
  Until then, the power of the republic rests with its people, not with 
its executive. Let us never waiver from that position. As long as we 
treasure this republic and its Constitution, this will defend.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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