Brian Mast

Mr. MAST

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I have to say I heard one of the craziest things from my colleague just a couple of minutes ago: That if something has been going on for 40 years, it can't be imminent. It can't meet the definition of imminent if it has been going on for 40 years. That is one of the most absurd things I have ever heard. If every day I walk out of my house and get my tail kicked by somebody, that is the exact definition of imminent. It will happen tomorrow and the next day until I finally step up, grow a spine, and prevent it from happening. It is one of the most absurd arguments I have ever heard. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. I have three quick points. Number one, it is Article II of the Constitution that gives the President the authority to defend us against the imminent threat of Iran. I would say that if the Iran nuclear deal was so masterful, why didn't they bring it before Congress and before the Senate? The final point that I would make is this: Again, last Congress, 354 Members of Congress, including 150 Democrats and Speaker Emerita Pelosi, who just spoke, all voted ``to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' That was their vote. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Arkansas (Mr. Crawford), the chairman of the Intelligence Committee.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Rogers), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I urge not supporting this resolution. I am thankful that my colleague at least started to talk about that there is an Article II authority. He actually discussed that. When is something an emergency? That is what a real debate can be. I have laid out very clearly a number of reasons why I believe it is a national emergency and why I believe that threat is imminent because of a number of things that have happened. My colleagues over there say that something can't be imminent if it has been going on for years. To me that would be the definition of imminent if it is ongoing for years. At least my colleague was willing to have that debate, although I disagree with him and urge not passing his legislation. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Smith), who is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, let me tell you why not to trust what was just said as the gentleman walks out. Here is what he voted for: ``Iran's ongoing nuclear escalation poses a serious threat to the United States and its partners.'' That is literally what he voted for. ``Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' To me, that seems pretty damn imminent. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Self), chairman of the Europe Subcommittee.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Texas.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga), chairman of the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Michigan.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I think the last speaker just said she was worried about Iran's uranium stockpile and that it could be used at any time. That seems pretty damn imminent to me, too. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Mills), chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Intelligence.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman about to speak on the other side, Mr. Raskin, also voted to say Iran's ongoing nuclear escalation poses a serious threat to the United States and its partners and to use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He must have thought it was pretty damn imminent, too. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I have heard it brought up many times that we get to vote to declare war. We do, but it is enshrined in the Constitution that the President gets to defend the United States of America because of national emergencies. These kinds of emergencies that the last gentleman voted to say to ``use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,'' that seems like an emergency to me. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler), the chairman of the Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from New York.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, let's poke a few holes in the Intelligence Committee ranking member's story here. ``At an ebb.'' They have been knocking jets off of our aircraft carriers. They have been attacking in places like Syria and Iraq. They killed three U.S. servicemembers at Tower 22 in Jordan, but he can say that it is at an ebb. Let's poke one more hole in this. As ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, he did not vote to say that Iran's ongoing nuclear escalation poses a serious threat to the United States and its partners. That seems like an odd thing that the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee wouldn't vote for. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Barr).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Baumgartner).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire as to how much time is remaining.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Fine).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Van Drew).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, before I reserve again, I would just invite the previous speaker to explain. If Iran posed an emergency, an existential threat to America, I would be happy to hear it. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I heard the same comments about Venezuela. There has been no forever war there, and that did bring peace and stability to the Venezuelan people. I guess we are proving the previous comments wrong. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Miller).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Issa), vice chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I would point out that the next speaker as well, it would appear, voted to say: ``Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.'' He clearly thought that there was a pretty damn imminent threat going on there, but I look forward to hearing the remarks. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Meuser).

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman from Pennsylvania.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I think I figured something out. If my colleagues keep saying that 4 days is forever, then maybe that is why they can't talk about what imminent threat means. They can't figure out the definition of these things. Imminent threat, I have done pretty well to define what makes Iran a imminent threat. They don't want to speak about that. They don't even want to acknowledge it a little bit that, hey, maybe there is even a little chance that Iran could attack us this day. They don't even want to acknowledge it the slightest bit. They want to paint it as though it is just black and white, no shot whatsoever, no threat at all coming from Iran, even though they voted for things to say: Use all means necessary to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. It is amazing to me, even though they have difficulty defining other words as well. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I am prepared to close if the gentleman is prepared to close, and I reserve the balance of my time.