Sen. Cotton: Republicans Will Stop Obama's 'Parade of Concessions' for Iran

Iran's ayatollahs have kept up with their "reign of terror" because they know President Barack Obama desperately wants to preserve his nuclear deal, Sen. Tom Cotton said Saturday, vowing that Congressional Republicans will stop the president's "parade of concessions" with the Middle Eastern nation.

"We live in a dangerous world — and the dangers are ever increasing, particularly from radical Islamic terror," the Arkansas Republican said in Saturday's GOP  address. "But President Obama wants us to 'chill out.'  He believes overreaction to terrorism is a graver threat than terrorism itself."

But there is no conversation about Obama's "failed, weak policy toward radical Islam" that should not include the nuclear agreement, a "'deal' that hardly deserves the name — never fully disclosed, never signed, and never approved as a treaty by Congress."

Obama's concessions continue, though, even though Iran "has kidnapped our sailors, taken Americans hostages, sponsored terror plots against U.S. allies, fueled conflicts in Syria and Yemen, and even launched ballistic missiles inscribed with 'Israel must be wiped out,'" said Cotton.

The president has refused to condemn the ballistic missile tests, and now wants to grant Iran access to the U.S. dollar.

"This parade of concessions must stop," said Cotton, pointing out ways Congress will act.

"Later this year, we will renew the Iran Sanctions Act to ensure that the United States can reimpose tough sanctions on Iran when it violates the nuclear deal," he said. "We've introduced the Iran Ballistic Missile Sanctions Act, which will punish the ayatollahs for developing a missile that can reach the United States with a nuclear warhead."

Further, Congress has introduced the Iran Terrorism and Human Rights Sanctions Act to punish Iran's support for terrorism and domestic oppression, he said, and if Iran gets access to the U.S. dollar, "we will take appropriate action."

"Republicans understand, unlike the president, that we do not and cannot have 'shared values' with the radical, terror-sponsoring regime in Iran any more than we can with the Islamic State," said Cotton. "The right strategy against the threat of radical Islam is to confront this radical ideology and defeat it on the battlefield before it grows larger and stronger, or obtains nuclear weapons."

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