Bluegrass Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered the following remarks today on the Senate floor regarding national security:

“Yesterday, at my urging, Biden Administration officials held a briefing for our colleagues on the growing challenge Iran poses to America’s allies, our interests, and our own personnel.

“The list of threats from Tehran is long and growing.

“The IRGC continues to harass commercial vessels in the Arabian Gulf. They arm and equip the Houthi rebels in Yemen who terrorize America’s Gulf partners.

“They back the terrorist proxies in Iraq and Syria who killed an American and wounded two dozen others in March. They fund, train, equip, and facilitate Hizballah, HAMAS, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s proxy war against Israel.

“All the while, Iran has developed closer ties with China, expanded its nuclear and missile programs, suppressed peaceful nationwide protests, and continued its efforts to assassinate current and former U.S. officials, as well as Iranian-American dissidents on American soil.

“The Administration recognizes Iran as, ‘Russia’s top military backer’ and describes Iran’s two-way arms trade with Russia as ‘a full-scale defense partnership.’

“Tehran is not deterred from terror at home and abroad. Looking at this Administration’s record of retreat, it’s little wonder why.

“President Biden began his term by relaxing pressure on Tehran’s proxies in Yemen and turning his back on America’s partners in the Gulf.

“His Administration spent two years fruitlessly chasing the Iranians around the negotiating table. And they signaled weakness and incompetence through their reckless and disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“And while Iran and its proxies have conducted more than 80 attacks against U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria since the President took office, America has responded with force only 4 times. If Iran does not fear serious consequences for such aggression, we cannot be surprised when they attack again and again across the region.

“Unfortunately, the Middle East is not the only place where the Biden Administration has met serious threats with a timid and halting response.

“Just look at the President’s Ukraine policy: doing the right thing only after weeks or months of self-deterrence.

“But today, President Biden has an opportunity to change course.

“This week he will meet with America’s closest allies and trading partners overseas. In the shadow of global challenges, he can start rallying our partners with real American leadership.

“To help Ukraine defeat Russian aggression and to impose meaningful costs on Russia for its brutal war; to deter Iran’s violence at home and abroad with new and effective international sanctions; and to meet Chinese manipulation and malign influence with resolve and strength.

“I hope the President will seize this opportunity.”

Original source can be found here.