Denying Admission to the United States
Floor Speech
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Mr. President, the nomination of Hamid Aboutalebi to be the Ambassador from the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations is a deliberate and unambiguous insult to the United States. Mr. Aboutalebi was an active participant in the terrorist group that took 52 Americans hostage on November 4, 1979, and held them for 444 days. There are no circumstances under which the United States should grant such a person a visa, and our immediate concern is to prevent Mr. Aboutalebi from ever setting foot on American soil.
But this nomination is not an isolated incident that is taking place in a vacuum. It is part of Iran's clear and consistent pattern of virulent anti-Americanism that has defined their foreign policy since 1979.
Given the larger strategic threat to the United States and our allies represented by Iran's nuclear ambitions, this is not the moment for diplomatic niceties. We need to send Tehran an equally clear message: The Senate is not going to ignore this most recent insult but, rather, is going to give our President the authority to affirmatively reject it. Unanimous passage of the bill I have introduced, which specifies that engaging in terrorism against the United States is a basis to deny a foreign U.N. ambassador a visa to enter our country, will do just that, while also signaling to other unfriendly nations that we see this kind of offensive behavior for what it is, and we will not tolerate it.
I wish in particular to thank Senator Coats, who is a cosponsor of this bill, as well as Senator Graham, Senator McCain, and Senator Kirk for their leadership. I also wish to thank my friends across the aisle and, in particular, Senator Schumer, Senator Leahy, and Senator Menendez for working together with my office to reach bipartisan agreement. I am proud to join with all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in this effort, and I am encouraged that we can all come together in a bipartisan manner on this national security issue that transcends political parties. I am encouraged that the Senate can speak unanimously in a bipartisan voice defending the interests of our Nation.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be discharged from further consideration of S. 2195 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration.
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