The Israeli Prime Minister's Speech To Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. BARRASSO. Madam President, during the 2012 Presidential campaign, President Obama made a claim. His claim was: ``I have Israel's back.'' This week President Obama and his administration are turning their back on Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and they are doing it right here during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington.

While he won't have a meeting in the White House, he will have a very supportive audience right here on Capitol Hill. The Prime Minister will receive a warm welcome from Members of Congress who are concerned about Israel's security and the value of this very important relationship.

In his speech to Congress tomorrow, the Prime Minister is going to address the ongoing negotiations with Iran over illicit nuclear programs. If President Obama's past negotiations with our adversaries are any guide, Israel is right to be apprehensive. The Obama administration started negotiating with Iran more than five years ago. A series of increasingly tough sanctions have damaged the Iranian economy and have finally convinced them to discuss their nuclear program seriously. In 2013 the President announced his 6-month interim agreement. The United States would suspend enforcement of some of the sanctions that had brought Iran to the table. In exchange the Iranians would freeze and reverse specific elements of their nuclear program. This was supposed to provide time for a final agreement to be negotiated within a year. That 6-month interim agreement has now extended to 17 months.

President Obama mishandled these negotiations from the very beginning by conceding Iran's right to enrich uranium. In my opinion the President is compounding the problem as he chases the comprehensive agreement maybe to justify his Nobel Peace Prize. Information has leaked out occasionally about the negotiations. Each time there seems to be another point on which the United States has given in to the Iranian position. Iran has gotten about $10 billion in much needed hard currency since signing the interim agreement. It has gotten additional income from the suspension of other sanctions. We have no way to stop Iran from using this money to support terrorists around the world or to prop up Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

What I heard, along with a number of Senators who went to Saudi Arabia a little over a month ago to meet with some of the Free Syrian Army, is that the freedom fighters from Syria who had come down to Saudi Arabia to meet with us said that this is exactly what Iran is doing with some of the money gained from the relief of sanctions. They are using it to prop up al-Assad and also to fund Hezbollah and Hamas.

The Obama administration has said its goal is to keep Iran 1 year away from being able to construct a nuclear weapon. That is the same level the administration said Iran was at in 2013 when sanctions were still fully in force. Apparently, the Obama administration is aiming for a final deal that suspends sanctions on Iran and does not constrain its nuclear program any more than it was before the interim agreement.

Let me be clear. If the Obama administration allows Iran to continue with its illicit nuclear program, the global community will be less safe, less stable, and less secure. Any treaty that we sign with Iran must be accountable, enforceable, and verifiable. So far, it doesn't appear to me that the Obama administration is negotiating a deal that would meet that standard.

The administration has also undermined Israeli security in other areas as well, specifically, when it comes to Middle East peace negotiations with the Palestinians. U.S. law prohibits sending any money to international organizations that admit the Palestinians as a state. The idea was to support the peace talks by letting the two sides work out their differences without others putting their thumb on the scale. So it was a problem when the Palestinians sought and received recognition as a full member state in the United Nations group UNESCO. This happened in 2012. That is the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. The Palestinians triggered that law, and that stopped U.S. money from going to UNESCO. In every budget request since, President Obama has tried to restore the money in spite of the law. This would excuse the Palestinians and the United Nations from the consequences of their actions. It sends a signal that the United States does not, in fact, have Israel's back.

Vice President Biden said: ``Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value.''

By that standard, it is obvious that President Obama does not value supporting Israel in the international peace negotiations. National Security Advisor Susan Rice said just last week that Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit is too partisan and ``destructive of the fabric of the relationship'' Israel has with the United States.

Members of Congress disagree. We welcome the Prime Minister. We are eager to show our support, and Republicans will continue to push for additional sanctions to keep the pressure on Iran. We intend to do all that we can to ensure that the vital alliance between the United States and Israel remains strong.

I thank the Presiding Officer.

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the time under the quorum calls this afternoon be equally divided.

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