Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) excoriated the Iran nuclear deal made by the Obama administration in a speech on Capitol Hill Wednesday, saying it made the White House in effect a leading sponsor of radical Islamic terrorism.
Cruz, a contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, railed against the agreement for allowing billions of dollars to go to "radical Islamic terrorists" across the world that will be used to murder people around the world. He also said the deal had gone through while four American hostages stayed stuck in an "Iranian hellhole."
"The third consequence of this deal going through if it does is it will facilitate and accelerate the nation of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons," Cruz said. "There is no greater threat to the safety and security of America. There is no greater threat to the safety and security of Israel."
While no Republicans support the agreement, the deal is nearly certain to survive now that 42 Senate Democrats have publicly announced they will support the agreement. Cruz pointed this out to jeers from the crowd at Capitol Hill.
"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," Cruz said. "I agree with former Democratic Sen. 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."
Cruz said "sadly" there are fewer and fewer Democrats who care about national security in today's Congress, asking whether they cared more about party loyalty to the White House instead of Americans. He said he wondered how they could look mothers of soldiers killed by Iranian IEDs in the eye after voting to lift sanctions on the regime.
"Americans will die, Israelis will die, Europeans will die," Cruz said. "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 plan."