Reaffirming Iran Remains the Largest State Sponsor of Terrorism

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. MILLS. Mr. Speaker, 47 years--I am going to say it again: 47 years. That is how long this evil regime has waged war not only against the West and our allies but Americans.

Whether it be the Beirut bombing, whether it be the hostages, or whether it be the violation of our own sovereign territory of our embassies, make no mistake about it: It was Iran and their regime that actually waged war against America--far longer than the strategic strikes to eliminate the imminent threat that this regime posed.

My colleague from Florida has pointed out all the different occasions in which this regime has targeted Americans. Let me point out the fact that not only are they engaged in the illicit trade and drug trafficking of Captagon, not only are they going ahead and leveraging sanctioned oil to countries like China and others to fund these proxy militias--we are talking about the worst of the worst, including the Houthis over in Yemen and Hamas, which indiscriminately murdered, raped, and showed barbarism on October 7 in Israel.

Look at Hezbollah under Hassan Nasrallah, who was responsible not only for the slaughtering of Christians in Lebanon but also for the targeting of Americans with the expansion of their militias in Iraq.

Hashd al-Shaabi and Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq in Iraq are responsible for more attacks against American troops and contractors, as well as for rocket attacks on our embassies, than any other.

The list goes on and on, Mr. Chairman. We can talk about the fact that we want to go back to Article I, Section 8, Clause 11 responsibilities of declarations of war, but I would argue that my colleague on the left has also voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force as an abdication of those responsibilities.

I would also argue the fact, as the chairman had talked about, while you are right that a piece of paper isn't going to change things, it sends a clear message that this body stands unified in acknowledging that this state sponsor of terror will not have a reign any longer, thanks to President Donald J. Trump and the decisive action to guarantee that their nuclear enrichment program will not continue to thrive. Their mid-range ballistic missiles, their long-range ballistic missiles, and their ICBMs will not threaten American lives any longer.

Our servicemembers who are deployed in the region can sleep peacefully at night knowing that they are not going to have Shahed-136s or other attack drones killing them in their sleep.

I would also go ahead and iterate the fact that I can guarantee the six new Gold Star families and those six new heroes will be proud to know that we haven't forgotten and that we are going to continue to acknowledge that this evil regime is the greatest state sponsor of terror.

Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to support this resolution, and I thank the chairman for giving me this time.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source