ICYMI: Sen. Cruz: You Cannot Wash Your Hands of That Blood

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today spoke at the Stop the Iran Deal rally hosted and organized by Tea Party Patriots. Leading efforts to halt the Iran Nuclear Deal, Sen. Cruz underscored the dangers of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, which would be funded and accelerated by this catastrophic deal.

“When we talk about terrorism, it’s worth remembering that if this deal goes through, we know to an absolute certainty people will die. Americans will die, Israelis will die, Europeans will die. Osama bin Laden never had $100 billion. He was filled with bilious hatred, and using rudimentary tools, murdered nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001. We’re now talking about giving the Ayatollah Khamenei--a theocratic homicidal maniac who hates America every bit as much as bin Laden did--giving him $100 billion to carry out his murderous plans,” Sen. Cruz said.

“I want to ask every Senate Democrat - how will you look in the eyes of every mother, or father, or sons or daughters, of those who are murdered by jihadists, those Americans who are blown up, those Americans who are shot, those Americans who are killed, those Israelis who are murdered? And let me be clear - if you vote to send billions of dollars to jihadists who have pledged to murder Americans, then you bear direct responsibility for the murders carried out with the dollars you have given them. You cannot wash your hands of that blood.” 

Sen. Cruz’s speech can be read in its entirety below and video can be viewed here. 

“God Bless the United States of America. What an incredible gathering here today. I want to speak to three groups of people.

“I want to start by speaking to the American people. This Iran Nuclear Deal is catastrophic. It is the single greatest national security threat facing America. If it goes through, there will be three consequences.

“Number one, the Obama Administration will become, quite literally, the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism. If it goes through over 100 billion dollars will flow directly to Iran to the Ayatollah Khamenei and billions of those dollars will go directly to Hamas, to Hezbollah, to the Houthis, to radical Islamic terrorists across the world and those jihadists will use those dollars to murder Americans, to murder Israelis, to murder Europeans.

“The second consequence of this deal is that it abandons four American hostages in an Iranian hellhole, including Pastor Said Abedini, an American citizen, a Christian pastor sentenced to eight years in prison for the crime of preaching the gospel; including former Marine Amir Hekmati; including Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; and including Bob Levinson. It is a disgrace for this Administration to abandon Americans in Iranian hellholes. 

“But the third consequence of this deal going through if it does, is that it will facilitate and accelerate the nation of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. There is no greater threat to the safety and security of America, there is no greater threat to the safety and security of Israel, than a nuclear Iran. I agree with Prime Minister Netanyahu that a nuclear Iran poses an existential threat to the nation of Israel. And let me be clear, when he says existential, he doesn't mean a bunch of Frenchmen in black berets chain-smoking - he means literally going to the very existence of Israel.

“When Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress, a joint session that President Obama boycotted, that Vice President Biden boycotted, that every member of the Cabinet boycotted, I participated in a panel with Elie Wiesel, the Nobel laureate, the Holocaust survivor, and Elie Wiesel observed the one threat on the face of the earth capable of murdering 6 million Jews in an instant in a flash of light is a nuclear Iran. Elie Wiesel observed "never again means never again." 

“The second group I want to address are Democratic senators and Democratic members of Congress. Right now, today, 42 Senate democrats have come out in support of this deal. It is my hope and prayer that every one of those Senate Democrats reconsiders -- that they go home, and they fall to their knees, and they pray tonight. I agree with former Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman that this vote is quite likely the most important vote that any member of Congress, any member of the Senate, will cast in their entire career.

“There was a time when there was a tradition of Scoop Jackson Democrats, of JFK Democrats, of Joe Lieberman Democrats, of Democrats who were willing to defend national security.  Sadly, that is becoming rarer and rarer in today's Congress. So to every Democratic senator, they are facing a choice: do you value the safety and security of the United States of America; do you value standing with our friend and ally, the nation of Israel; do you value the lives of millions of Americans; or do you value more party loyalty to the Obama White House. To every Democratic senator who's said he or she will support this deal, I ask you to consider: how will you look in the eyes of the mothers and fathers of our soldiers, the hundreds of soldiers, American soldiers, who were murdered in Iraq with Iranian IEDs that came from General Soleimani. This deal lifts sanctions on General Soleimani. Tell me, if you're a Democratic senator, how you look a mom in the eye and say, "I voted to lift sanctions on the man who murdered your son when he was defending this nation."

“But beyond that, when we talk about terrorism, it's worth remembering that if this deal goes through, we know to an absolute certainty people will die. Americans will die, Israelis will die, Europeans will die. Osama bin Laden never had $100 billion. He was filled with bilious hatred, and using rudimentary tools, murdered nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001. We’re now talking about giving the Ayatollah Khamenei--a theocratic homicidal maniac who hates America every bit as much as Bin Laden did--giving him $100 billion to carry out his murderous plans.

“I want to ask every Senate Democrat - how will you look in the eyes of every mother, or father, or sons or daughters, of those who are murdered by jihadists, those Americans who are blown up, those Americans who are shot, those Americans who are killed, those Israelis who are murdered? And let me be clear - if you vote to send billions of dollars to jihadists who have pledged to murder Americans, then you bear direct responsibility for the murders carried out with the dollars you have given them. You cannot wash your hands of that blood. 

“And let me say to Republican leadership - well hold on, I come not to bury Caesar but to praise him - I want to give a path forward. There are two men in Washington, D.C. who can defeat this deal: their names are Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Speaker John Boehner. Under the terms of the Corker-Cardin review legislation, the clock does not begin ticking until the President hands over the entire deal, and he has not handed over the side agreements. What that means is that all that has to happen is for Mitch McConnell and John Boehner to say, "The Congressional review period has not started, under federal law it is illegal for Obama to lift sanctions."

“Now, this is a lawless President. So the odds are significant even if Congress did that, this President would ignore the law and try to lift sanctions. But I want in particular to speak to the CEO and the Board of Director and General Counsel of every financial institution, every bank that is holding frozen Iranian money. If this President behaves illegally and decrees you can hand that money over to Iran, that does not exempt you from the legal obligation to follow the law. And any bank that listens to this President and releases billions to an international terrorist like the Ayatollah Khamenei will face billions of dollars in civil liability and litigation. And there will come a President who is not named Barack Obama. 

“Mitch McConnell and John Boehner can stop this deal if they simply enforce, if they simply enforce, federal law. 

“If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, the single greatest risk is they would take that nuclear weapon, they would put it on a ship anywhere in the Atlantic and they would fire it up straight into the air into the atmosphere. They would set off what's called an EMP- an electromagnetic pulse - it would take down the electrical grid on the entire Eastern seaboard, and kill tens of millions of Americans.

“We can stop that. But if Senate Democrats decide that party loyalty matters more than national security, and if Republican leadership decides that a show-vote is more important than stopping this deal, then the single most important issue in 2016 will be stopping Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“And any Commander-in-Chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared to stand up on January 20, 2017 and rip to shreds this catastrophic deal. Any Commander-in-Chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared in January 2017 to look in the eyes of the Ayatollah Khamenei and say, "Under no circumstances does Iran led by a theocratic Ayatollah, who chants 'Death to America,' under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. And if Iran will not stop its nuclear program, we will stop it for you."

“I want to thank everyone here for this rally. I want to thank the Tea Party Patriots. I want to thank the pro-Israel groups, the national security groups. I want to thank my friend Donald Trump for joining us today. I want to thank the leaders of Congress who are here, and I want to thank the American people.

“Let's rise up and tell every elected official in Washington, no more talk, no more show votes, get it done: stop this deal.

 

 

“Thank you and God bless you.”

 

 

 

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