Iran (Executive Session)

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Iran

Mr. President, on a separate subject, last week, President Trump declared that the cease-fire with Iran was over, after the United States launched a wave of retaliatory strikes in response to Iran's firing at commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. I wish I could say I am surprised by this, but I am not. President Trump started this war with a genuine destabilizing regime without thinking it through. As I have said over and over again--a cliche which happens to be accurate-- it is a lot easier to get into a war than it is to get out of it, as we are learning in Iran every day. Iran's response--striking U.S. and allied targets in the region and holding the strait and global economy hostage--was equally foreseeable. The Iranian regime, much like Vladimir Putin

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in Russia, seems to be repeatedly trying to humiliate the United States and play for time. The original misstep may have occurred even earlier, when President Trump withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear agreement during his first term--a deal that was working to restrain Iran's nuclear ambitions. Now we seem to be floundering back into a much weaker deal, one that bewilderingly includes billions of dollars to help Iran rebuild. I hope wiser heads will prevail, and I look forward to congressional review of any ensuing deal with Iran, as required under the bipartisan Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act. I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Barrasso). Without objection, it is so ordered.

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