[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 8859]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          IRAN SANCTIONS BILL

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, yesterday, Senators voted on an 
overwhelming bipartisan basis--91 to 8--to advance critical legislation 
granting the administration more of the policy tools it needs to hold 
Iran accountable for its actions. We must now keep working toward final 
passage. The bill makes clear that Congress recognizes that Iran's 
aggressive behavior and efforts to expand its revolution across the 
broader Middle East must be stopped.
  Unfortunately, the Obama administration's desire to draw down our 
conventional military presence from the Persian Gulf and Iraq created 
the self-defeating imperative to avoid nation-state conflict at any 
cost, and they were reluctant to take any action that might upset the 
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action--in other words, the so-called Iran 
deal. They kept this hands-off approach even when Iran supported 
terrorism and Shia militias and even as they harassed U.S. ships at 
sea--actions that were not part of the nuclear program or the Iran 
deal.
  Advancing this bill makes the logical point that our Nation needs a 
comprehensive strategy to deal with all areas of Iran's aggression. It 
will give the current administration more of the tools it needs to take 
a stronger approach than the previous administration. It includes new 
mandatory ballistic missile sanctions, new terrorism sanctions, and a 
mechanism to ensure better enforcement of the arms embargo. These 
sanctions represent another key measure we can take now to keep 
American families safer and to support our allies over in that region.
  I want to again note the broad bipartisan support this legislation 
has already received and encourage my colleagues on both sides of the 
aisle to continue working together so we can pass it.

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