{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=FDBF4E2C-8045-444D-B6E1-8DCE757CCF9C", "Thune: It\u2019s Time to End Iran\u2019s Reign of Terror", "2023-10-31", "2023", "2023-10", "Republican", "Senate", "SD", "John Thune", "T000250", "www.thune.senate.gov", "thune", "https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases", "scraper", "Click here to watch the video.\n\nWASHINGTON \u2014 U.S. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) today spoke on the Senate floor about the dangers of Iran\u2019s influence on terrorism in the Middle East. Thune also called on President Biden to withdraw his nomination of Jack Lew to be ambassador to Israel, noting that Lew\u2019s role in the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal is disqualifying.\n\nThune\u2019s remarks below (as prepared for delivery):\n\n\u201cMr. President, Hamas\u2019 brutal attack on Israel on October 7 has thrust not just Hamas but Iran into the spotlight.\n\n\u201cWhy?\n\n\u201cBecause while Hamas may have carried out this attack, Iran enabled it \u2013 and is currently enabling terrorist organizations throughout the Middle East.\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s Hamas, which gets approximately 90 percent of its military budget from Iran and benefits from Iranian training and weapons.\n\n\u201cThen there\u2019s Hezbollah \u2013 the terrorist organization on Israel\u2019s northern border with Lebanon \u2013 which is also armed and financed by Iran.\n\n\u201cThere are the Houthis in Yemen, who are backed by Iran and who in the aftermath of October 7 fired missiles and drones headed in the direction of Israel, likely at Iran\u2019s direction.\n\n\u201cThere are the Shia militias who are attacking American soldiers in Iraq and Syria.\n\n\u201cPalestinian Islamic Jihad.\n\n\u201cAnd the list goes on.\n\n\u201cAs I said on the floor last week, through its proxies, Iran is literally getting away with murder.\n\n\u201cOne has to wonder what the Middle East would look like today if Iran hadn\u2019t spent decades funding and arming terrorist organizations.\n\n\u201cNor are Iran\u2019s malign activities confined to the Middle East.\n\n\u201cIran has provided Russia with drones to use in its war of aggression against Ukraine.\n\n\u201cAnd now it appears that Iran is helping Russia to build a drone manufacturing facility to dramatically increase Russia\u2019s drone supply.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, Russia\u2019s foreign minister was in Iran last week and met with the Iranian president.\n\n\u201cA Reuters article on the meeting reported, and I quote, \u2018Russia and Iran are firming up bilateral relations in a \u2018trusting\u2019 atmosphere, Russia\u2019s foreign ministry said.\u2019\n\n\u201cMr. President, Iran doesn\u2019t just represent a danger to peace and stability in the Middle East \u2013 and beyond \u2013 it is directly responsible for much of the strife we see there.\n\n\u201cAnd in the wake of the October 7 attack and Israel\u2019s military response, Iran has threatened Israel with escalation and a war on, quote, \u2018multiple fronts.\u2019\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to make it clear to Iran that its deadly activities can\u2019t continue.\n\n\u201cThe Biden administration must clearly articulate to the Iranians that if they do not stand down, or if they greenlight any escalation against Israel, the United States and our allies will respond.\n\n\u201cIn the meantime, the administration should be exploring all avenues for ending Iran\u2019s career as a state sponsor of terror.\n\n\u201cIsrael and the Arab world deserve a chance to move forward free of Iran\u2019s malign meddling.\n\n\u201cPresident Biden and his administration do not have the strongest track record on Iran \u2013 witness their misguided attempts to reboot the Obama administration\u2019s problematic nuclear deal and the decision to unfreeze $6 billion in Iranian funds as part of a deal to free American prisoners.\n\n\u201cThe president did finally listen to calls from myself and others in the wake of Hamas\u2019 attack to once again freeze that $6 billion.\n\n\u201cAnd the administration was right to move more U.S. forces into the region to deter escalation and to respond to attacks on U.S. troops.\n\n\u201cBut it\u2019s clear that a lot more needs to be done if we want to stop Iran from funding terror.\n\n\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that the president has continued in his choice of Jack Lew as ambassador to Israel.\n\n\u201cMr. Lew played a key role in developing and carrying out the Obama administration\u2019s misguided nuclear deal.\n\n\u201cAnd his nomination does not exactly send the message to Iran that the Biden administration will be cracking down on Iranian warmongering.\n\n\u201cMr. President, 33 Americans died as a result of Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack, and as many as 10 Americans are still likely trapped as hostages, with hundreds of other Americans still stuck in Gaza.\n\n\u201cMeanwhile, a number of American military personnel have been injured in drone attacks in Iraq and Syria carried out by Iran-backed groups.\n\n\u201cAdd the more than 1,400 individuals who died in Hamas\u2019 October 7 attack and countless other terrorism-related deaths in the Middle East, and it becomes very clear that Iran\u2019s hands are stained with the blood of thousands.\n\n\u201cIf there is to be any hope of peace in the Middle East, if there is to be any hope for a brighter and more secure future for Israelis and Palestinians and many others, then Iran\u2019s career as a state sponsor of terror must be ended.\n\n\u201cAnd I will do everything I can with my colleagues in Congress to see that that is accomplished.\n\n\u201cAnd I hope the Biden administration will do the same.\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s time to end Iran\u2019s reign of terror.\n\n\u201cMr. President, before I yield the floor, I want to take a moment to talk about the disturbing displays of antisemitism we are seeing around the world, and, appallingly, right here at home.\n\n\u201cFrom celebrations of Hamas\u2019 attack to threats of violence directed against Jewish individuals and organizations \u2013 and a United States senator \u2013 the weeks since October 7 have contained horrifying echoes of a very dark time in human history.\n\n\u201cThe spectacle of a mob storming a runway to hunt for Jewish passengers is a sight I never thought to see in my lifetime.\n\n\u201cAnd I pray it is a sight we will never see again.\n\n\u201cBut preventing this kind of evil from expanding its foothold is going to require action on our part: a willingness to stand up and call it out and affirm that this kind of hatred has no place in civilized society.\n\n\u201cAnd in the days to come, I hope that leaders around the world will make it very clear that antisemitism\u2019s day is over \u2013 and that neither our nation nor the world community will ever allow the dark history of the 20th century to be repeated in the 21st.\n\n\u201cMr. President, I yield the floor.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:43:12Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.thune.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=FDBF4E2C-8045-444D-B6E1-8DCE757CCF9C"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.060019014403224, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": 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