[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 4]
[House]
[Pages 5866-5867]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




           ISRAEL AND U.S. MUST FACE COMMON THREATS TOGETHER

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, Israel has always been surrounded by 
threats. Since it was established, Israel has survived Arab armies 
waiting at its borders to destroy the Jewish state. It has persisted in 
the face of suicide bombers and terrorist onslaughts like no other 
country in history. Recently the threats to Israel have increased and 
become even more dangerous.
  Iran's Supreme Leader has stated clearly that he wants to destroy 
Israel. Thanks to the nuclear deal made by the administration, it is 
only a matter of time before the mullahs in Iran develop a nuclear 
weapon.
  The Iran deal will go down in history as one of the administration's 
worst foreign policy mistakes. This Neville Chamberlain deal ensured 
that Iran gets to keep enriching uranium. It does not have to dismantle 
any of its nuclear infrastructure. So, in 10 years, Tehran just has to 
flip a switch to get a nuclear bomb, and Israel is the first target. 
Tehran wants to put the entire Middle East under its thumb.
  Iran continues to defy U.N. security resolutions on ballistic 
missiles. Since the nuclear deal was signed, Iran has conducted three 
ballistic missile tests.

[[Page 5867]]

Some of the previously launched missiles were even marked in Hebrew 
with the words ``Israel must be wiped off the Earth.''
  There is more. Iran has announced that it would give $7,000 to 
families of Palestinians who murder Israelis and an additional $30,000 
to every family whose home Israel demolished due to the family's 
involvement in terrorism.
  The Iranian mullahs have hate and murder in their souls, and they 
want to eliminate Israel. The fact that the administration gave a $100 
billion signing bonus in sanctions relief to a regime that consorts 
with North Korea and sends terrorist proxies to do its bidding is a 
really bad foreign policy.
  There is more. Iran has sent Hezbollah to go after Israelis around 
the world. Hezbollah now has an estimated 150,000 rockets and missiles 
in its stockpile. That is enough to rain down thousands of rockets a 
day on Israel for months.
  In fact, Iran has transferred new game-changing advanced weapons to 
the terrorist group Hezbollah. This includes antiship cruise missiles, 
air defense systems, and precision-guided surface-to-surface missiles.
  Then there is Hamas in the south. In Gaza, Israeli officials now 
believe that Hamas has completely replenished all of its rocket supply 
that Israel destroyed 2 years ago.
  Hamas is building a sophisticated network of tunnels under the Gaza 
Strip for the purpose of securing arms and supplies. This tunnel 
network has only one purpose: to strike at the heart of the Israeli 
population centers.
  More. Since September, Palestinian lone-wolf terrorists have carried 
out hundreds of vicious attacks against Israeli citizens. These 
terrorists will do anything to kill. They ram vehicles into civilians, 
shoot indiscriminately, and stab anybody in the way.
  Immediately following the first attack, Palestinian Authority 
President Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed: ``We welcome every drop of blood 
spilled in Jerusalem. This is pure blood, blood on its way to Allah.''
  This latest wave of attacks has killed 34 people and injured 400. 
Among those killed were two Americans, and one of them was a citizen of 
Texas, Taylor Force. These terrorists are only happy when they have 
destroyed Israeli and American families wherever they find them.
  ISIS, which is even more brutal than al Qaeda, controls large parts 
of Syria. These terrorists no doubt view Israel as a threat and will 
likely turn to attacking the Jewish state in due time.
  Those who threaten Israel, Mr. Speaker, threaten the United States. 
The same terrorist groups that want to destroy Israel want to destroy 
the United States. The same Iran that calls Israel the ``Little Satan'' 
calls the United States the ``Great Satan.''
  Mr. Speaker, Israel is a bright star, the lone star of liberty, 
freedom, and democracy in the Middle East. The villains that want 
Israel destroyed are picking a fight with the wrong folks. They will 
lose that fight because Israel and the United States will work 
together, no matter who the enemy is, for liberty, justice, and freedom 
not only for Israel, but for the United States.
  And that is just the way it is.

                          ____________________