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September 25, 2013

Cruz Takes Break from Fake Filibuster to Block Iran Diplomacy

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took a break from his fake filibuster of the Senate to introduce a non-binding resolution in the hopes of blocking a meeting between President Obama and new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.  The resolution lays out stipulations that Iran would have to meet in order for President Obama to meet his Iranian counterpart, and attributes a false quote to Rouhani.  Presumably, Cruz was too busy trying to shut down the government to fact check his own resolution.  Which raises serious questions about the credibility of his attempt to wade into the Iran debate:

S.RES.252 : A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate on steps the Government of Iran must take before President Obama meets with the President of Iran.
Whereas the newly elected President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, is attending the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York City;
Whereas the Government of Iran has yet to take any practical steps towards halting Iran’s nuclear programs and remains a committed state-sponsor of terrorist groups that have been responsible for American deaths in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Afghanistan;
Whereas, since the election of President Rouhani, the persecution by the Government of Iran of religious minorities, notably Christians, has increased not decreased, and the United States citizen Pastor Sayeed Abedini has endured a year of brutal imprisonment for professing his faith;
Whereas President Rouhani has called Israel the “Zionist state” that has been “a wound that has sat on the body of the Muslim world for years and needs to be removed”; and
Whereas President Barack Obama has signaled a willingness to meet with President Rouhani in New York during the meeting of the United Nations Security Council or thereafter: Now, therefore, be it
 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that President Obama should not engage in any meeting with President Rouhani before the Government of Iran —
(1) affirms the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish state; and
(2) immediately and without conditions releases all United States citizens unjustly detained as prisoners of conscience in Iran.

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