-9999

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. to 5 p.m. today and that all time during recess count postcloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 6644.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. BARRASSO. Mr. President, the President of the United States took decisive action this weekend to keep America and Americans safe. He did it to stop the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism in the world. He did it to forge a path to peace in the Middle East.

Operation Epic Fury is one of the boldest military operations in modern history. I support it fully and without reservation. President Trump had the courage to do what is right and what needed to be done, something previous administrations refused to do--absolutely refused.

Operation Epic Fury has one purpose: to protect the American people from a regime that has spent 47 years at war against America--at war trying to destroy us. This is an absolutely bloodthirsty dictatorship, and blood is on their hands.

I heard the minority leader here on the floor, this morning, make reference to parents whose sons and daughters serve in the military. Well, I got an email yesterday from one of those parents, a Gold Star parent because she lost her son in Iraq in 2008. He was from Wyoming: SSG Tyler Pickett. She emailed me because I had spoken at his funeral in 2008. He was a 28-year-old from Saratoga, WY, killed by an IED. And we know that it was Iran who was supplying those IEDs that killed so many Americans in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

And what did she say? She said:

I have a request. When you speak to our President, Donald J. Trump, will you thank him from me and my family.

She said:

I was working when the attack on Iran took place. My brother texted me and called me. We were cheering, praying, and continuing to pray for everyone. Once again, thank you, and God be with you always.

That is a mother who lost her son, who is cheering the action this past weekend--and it continues today--to protect the American homeland for which her son lost his life 18 years ago.

For 47 years, Iran has chanted ``Death to America,'' and they have meant it. Iran has, for years, bankrolled and armed terrorists-- terrorists who have killed thousands of Americans, terrorists who on October 7, 2023, killed over 1,000 Israelis and Americans in the attack by Hamas on Israel. Iran has plotted assassinations on American soil against dissidents, against American officials, and even against President Trump.

Iran continued to race to build nuclear weapons. Even after the successful bombing of their nuclear facilities, last year, the Iranians were not deterred. They said: We are going to go do it again.

And they stockpiled ballistic missiles, which could be used to deliver a nuclear weapon or just to attack neighbors.

Make no mistake, Iran is not some faraway threat. It is a clear and present danger to the United States, and this Congress knows it. Every Democrat knows it.

In the past 96 hours, Iran has launched a wave of missiles and drones and attacked 11 countries in the region. Think about that. Iran attacked 11 of their neighboring countries--immediate neighbors. Iran's indiscriminate attacks prove Iran poses a universal threat. President Trump gave Iran every opportunity to choose peace. Instead, they chose delay, they chose deception, and they chose destruction. Iran refused every diplomatic off-ramp offered, and Iran believed it could once again run out the clock without consequences.

Iran was wrong. Operation Epic Fury was President Trump's commitment to protect our Nation.

Today, Ayatollah Khamenei is dead, his senior leadership team is dead, and his reign of terror is over. Iran's vast missile arsenal is being dismantled. Its nuclear program is being demolished. Its tentacles of terror are being severed. America is safer. The world is safer. This is American peace through strength.

Operation Epic Fury also sends a strong message to America's other adversaries. Iran's allies and enablers, of course, are China and Russia. For years, every dollar of Iranian oil and weapon sales sustained their terrorist regime. The oil and weapons also strengthened our adversaries. This anti-American axis of aggression is today weaker. President Trump has reshaped the strategic landscape in the Middle East and all around the world.

Inside Iran, people are pouring into the streets to celebrate. To the Iranian people: You have endured decades of repression and brutality. This is a moment of freedom. America stands with you.

As Operation Epic Fury succeeds in Iran, far-left Democrats in this Chamber are on a mission, and their mission is to undercut American peace through strength. This week, Democrats are going to force a vote on yet another War Powers Resolution. Their War Powers Resolution is intended to tie the hands of the Commander in Chief as he works to protect the country.

This administration briefed the Gang of 8 before Operation Epic Fury began. Every Senator is going to be briefed later this afternoon. The mission objectives are clear and publicly stated: Destroy Iran's missile industry; destroy Iran's Navy; destroy Iran's terrorist network; stop the world's No. 1 sponsor of terror from obtaining nuclear weapons.

President Trump protected our country. He did it by enforcing a redline with Iran. This is the opposite of President Obama and the Democrats. They tried to buy the Ayatollah's friendship. They sent pallets of cash directly into Iran.

Under the War Powers Act, the President retains authority to conduct missions like this for up to 60 days. Now is the time for Congress to support our servicemembers in the combat zone, not undermine them from this very Chamber.

If Senate Democrats are truly concerned about protecting the American people, here is what they should do right now, right here, today: Fund the Department of Homeland Security. They have been holding it up, shutting it down. Today, the greatest threat to our safety at home right here is terrorism. We are at heightened alert.

The Department of Homeland Security is on the front line against terrorism, and the Democrats want to keep it shut.

The Department of Homeland Security protects our airports, our shores, our cyber networks, our homeland. Democrats have shut down the Department of Homeland Security, and that shutdown endangers every single American citizen.

This weekend in Austin, TX, a killer wore a T-shirt with the Iranian flag and a sweatshirt that read ``Property of Allah.'' The investigation is ongoing, but the message is clear, now is the time for us to be on high alert. For the safety of the American people, the Department of Homeland Security needs to be fully funded. The workers need to be fully paid, not waiting and hoping to say: Well, will we ever get paid again, as the Democrats refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

Republicans stand with the brave men and women who are carrying out Operation Epic Fury. We pray for their safety in harm's way. We also pray for the family members who have given their lives in defense of our freedom, as the email that I have just read from the mother of SSG Tyler Pickett from Wyoming who lost his life in 2008 near Kirkuk in Iraq.

Peace through strength always keeps America secure, and as the majority whip, I am going to do everything possible to defeat Senator Kaine's resolution that undercuts our peace through strength.

Republicans are going to continue to work for the safety and security of the American people and of this great country.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source