[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 2]
[House]
[Page 1885]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      SILENCING A PRESCIENT VOICE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Westerman). Under the Speaker's 
announced policy of January 6, 2015, the Chair recognizes the gentleman 
from Arizona (Mr. Franks) for 30 minutes.
  Mr. FRANKS of Arizona. Mr. Speaker, we have heard a great deal about 
protocol this past week, and it all centers around the invitation by 
the Speaker of this House to the Prime Minister of Israel to come and 
speak to the body, as he has done twice before.
  It is worth pointing out, Mr. Speaker, that Bibi Netanyahu is one of 
the most prescient voices that we have in the entire world to address 
some of the subjects and some of the dangers that face the United 
States of America, and yet this administration is caught up in a 
conundrum over protocol.
  While it might be worth reminding this administration that ours is a 
government made up of three equal branches, it is even more important 
to remind this administration that, when Iran is pursuing a nuclear 
weapons capability with which to threaten the peace and security of the 
entire world, when ISIS and groups like it are slaughtering people the 
world over, when ISIS is crucifying and killing and torturing people in 
Iraq--when they are burning their prisoners alive in cages--this 
administration is caught up in protocol. Mr. Speaker, that is a 
profound distortion of priority.
  Ironically, this administration, for all of its talk of protocol, not 
only violated protocol when it traded five Taliban leaders for Sergeant 
Bowe Bergdahl, but it broke the law itself. This administration has 
repeatedly sought to unconstitutionally usurp the powers of the 
legislative branch by brash fiat. It chooses to listen to these 
mysterious voices of those who did not vote in our Nation's election. 
Its constitutional overreach is evidenced by Cuba, immigration, 
ObamaCare, and a number of others.
  Let us put that litany aside for a moment and just consider the 
arrogance of this administration as it comes now to proclaim that the 
Speaker of this House has somehow broken protocol by inviting the Prime 
Minister of our most vital ally on Earth to speak on this floor.
  Worse, Mr. Speaker, it has sought to go after and silence the guest 
speaker, himself. In hearing the visceral rhetoric of this White House, 
one would think our Speaker had invited the prime minister of an enemy 
nation instead of one of our best friends on the planet. Unfortunately, 
this administration's claims of breached protocol are an attempt to 
overshadow the real elephant in the room, and truth itself.
  The actual outrage here is not about the Israeli elections, as some 
might say. It is not about the doomed diplomatic overtures of this 
administration. The real crisis and the real threat is a nuclear-
capable Iran, and Prime Minister Netanyahu--with the greatest 
credentials on Earth related to this threat--in coming to speak to all 
of us is acting as a trusted ally should act. I hope this 
administration and this Congress and the American people will listen to 
him very carefully.
  The true problem here, Mr. Speaker, is that an outspoken enemy of our 
Nation, one that is, indeed, the leading state sponsor of global 
Islamic terrorism, is actively pursuing nuclear weapons that could 
create the gravest of threats to the United States, Israel, and the 
entire free world.
  How quickly we forget that Iran considers the United States of 
America the ``Great Satan.'' How quickly we forget that last year, on 
November 4, Iran, once again, celebrated ``Death to America Day,'' 
commemorating the 1979 seizure of the United States Embassy. How 
quickly we forget that ``death to America'' is the rallying cry of 
Hezbollah, which has been backed by Iran, and it launched attacks on 
Israel just last week, killing and wounding good men.
  How quickly we forget that one of Iran's stated goals is ``wiping 
Israel off the map.'' How quickly we forget that Iran collaborates with 
anti-U.S. regimes in South America and is actively seeking to exploit 
our borders and, of course, this administration's complete inattention 
to them. How quickly we forget that Iran continues to cooperate with 
North Korea in the development of long-range missiles capable of 
carrying nuclear warheads to the United States of America.
  Mr. Speaker, is this administration so naive or, worse, so arrogant 
as to believe that we can have any type of credible, diplomatic 
agreement with the leadership of such a regime?
  I think it is embarrassing, Mr. Speaker, to the United States of 
America that this supposed breach of protocol has somehow permitted 
this administration through anonymous, yet somehow authoritative, 
sources to politically threaten the elected leader of our only 
democratic ally in the region--calling him names in the media and being 
vindictive in its every interaction with him. None of this salve for 
the administration's wounded ego has furthered the interests of the 
United States one iota. Ultimately, it has only diminished America's 
national security and Israel's right to defend herself.
  Mr. Speaker, there are, unfortunately, only three things that will 
prevent Iran from eventually gaining nuclear weapons: one is a 
fundamental change of the regime in Iran; two is a direct military 
action to destroy their capability to build a nuclear weapons 
capability; or, finally, Mr. Speaker, it is the conviction in the minds 
of the jihadist leadership in Iran that military action will occur if 
that capability is not dismantled.
  Mr. Speaker, indifference, cowardice, diplomacy--call it what you 
will, but in the end, ignorance, whether intentional or unintentional, 
is not a viable alternative to the truth. Along with so many others in 
this body and, really, in America, itself, I have every conviction that 
when Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks on the threat that Iran's pursuit 
of nuclear weapons and its sponsorship of terrorism pose to global 
security, he will be speaking the truth. Once again, for the sake of 
America, for Israel, and for the free world, I pray that we all listen 
very carefully.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

                          ____________________