Chairman Wicker Addresses President Trump’s Military Action Against Iran

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WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today spoke on the U.S. Senate floor regarding President Trump's decision to conduct military operations against Iran.

In his speech, the chairman emphasized that the president's decision was the correct choice to protect American interests and security. He also highlighted the importance of supporting the American service members deployed in the operation.

Read Chairman Wicker's Speech as delivered.

This weekend, our commander-in-chief made the most difficult decision a president can make. He ordered young American service members into action.

My friends on the other side of the aisle are challenging the president's choice-and they are entitled to do so. I do find myself amazed from time to time with their rhetoric on the floor this morning and this afternoon. To hear them, apparently, President Trump should have announced to the world that he was going to bomb the headquarters of the Ayatollah and destroy the leadership of Iran who has attacked the United States and killed Americans for over four decades. Apparently, if this war lasts as long as five weeks, we should agree that we will fold our tents and come home and leave the job undone. Apparently, the fact that the ruthless drug lord dictator of Venezuela, President Maduro, is out of office is a bad thing.

I disagree with that, and I wonder how that rhetoric is going to last through the decades. We'll see. I will vote no on the pending resolution. President Trump decided to attack Iran. That decision was profound, deliberate, and correct.

The president understands the weight of war. He was clear-eyed about the risks, and he was honest with the American people. From very early on Saturday morning he said, "We pray for every service member as they selflessly risk their lives to ensure that Americans and our children will never be threatened by a nuclear armed Iran."

Indeed, we must be mindful of the brave men and women deployed in this operation.

And certainly, we grieve for the six American service men and women who have died in the fighting. I also grieve for the thousands of Americans that have died over the last 47 years at the hands of the brutal, Islamist, 9th century regime in Iran. I grieve for those. We care for any civilians caught in harm's way, and, yes, we are doing our best to get them out. War is hell, which is why we prioritize deterrence and engage only when absolutely necessary.

But when we enter into combat, we must do so deliberately, as this administration has done. My colleagues ask, "Why are we doing this?" The president has given at least four goals explicitly. We are doing this to destroy Iran's missile capabilities and their ability to produce missiles. That's a good thing. We're doing this to annihilate the Iranian navy, to ensure the regime can no longer arm, direct, and fund the terrorist activities that have gone on for more than four decades, and to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. That's why we're doing it and why I'll vote against this resolution.

The facts on the ground reflect this limited set of goals. We have taken out their air defenses and missile systems ahead of schedule. That's a good thing. Last week, Iran had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman. Today, they have none. That's a good thing. We can expect to see airstrikes continue until our military objectives are achieved, a task that will take weeks, not days. But we ought to stay there long enough to get it done.

I think the president's decision was correct.

For decades, Mr. President, the Iranian regime has killed thousands of Americans and thousands of citizens of our friends and allies and supported those who do. Too many American service members have lost brothers-in-arms to Iranian violence. Too many parents have lost sons and daughters to Iranian oppression.

For decades, Iran had been the world's leading sponsor of terrorism-the Houthis, Hamas, other armed groups. The regime armed, funded, and trained terrorist groups across the region. These proxies have attacked and killed thousands of our people and thousands our friends.

Iran is a murderous partner in the overall Axis of Aggressors-which includes China, Russia, and North Korea. They are all pals, and they are all allies. The Ayatollah was a friend of the tyrants who lead those nations. He stood with Xi Jinping, he stood with the war criminal Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un. Like them, the Supreme Leader violently suppressed his people.

The regime was hell-bent on acquiring the world's worst weapons. If successful, they could have struck our friends, our bases, and-in time-our homeland, Washington D.C. and America. President Trump, on the other hand, said from day one that he would keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. That is a major part of what this is about. He knew the Ayatollah had to be stopped, and he came to the conclusion that now was the time to do it.

Already, Israel had devastated Iran's proxies. Last summer, President Trump rained down fire on Iran's nuclear facilities. And in the past few months, untold numbers of Iranians stood up to the regime. The citizens of Iran stood up to this murderous regime in a massive show of opposition to the Ayatollah. Last Saturday morning, Iran had never been weaker. The time had come for the United States and for our ally Israel to strike. President Trump, the commander-in-chief, made that most difficult of decisions, and I think it will stand the test of time.

This does not have to be a forever war. It's not an aimless exercise in the Middle East. This is a measured campaign to eliminate the Ayatollah's threat. It might take time to finish. We're certainly not going to put a time limit on it, but that does not make it endless. It is, instead, a weighty, deliberate, and correct decision made to protect the United States of America, and I shall vote no on the resolution.