since. i was fortunate enough to be back in rwanda a few weeks ago to revisit some of the locations. i think about that when i is -- when i am sitting in the attorney general's office. when someone asks me how i am doing, it has been a bad day or difficult day, i think am i am alive, no one has chased me wit. throughout this world and throughout this country there are people who cannot say that. i had the ability to do something about that. i had the ability and the team and the dedicated people who work all day and well into the night to stop that and do something about that and to find justice for people. what i realized is i cannot guarantee the absence of discrimination or hatred or prejudice, but i can guarantee the president of just -- the presence of justice.

[applause] >> i cannot think of a better word to end on. thank you so much for joining us. reassuring words at this challenging time for the country and the american muslim community is so meaningful to us. inryone, please join me thanking the attorney general. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2015] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] announcer: the attorney general comey'sdirector james look to reporters today about

the mass shooting in california. fbi headquarters, they said the investigation has shown that shooters were radicalized by foreign terrorist groups. >> good afternoon, everyone. thank you for coming over. i joined the director possible today. from san bernardino continues to evolve, and now we have seen the names and faces of and theo have fallen injured, and let's keep them in our prayers, not just those who lost their lives, but those who were injured, including law enforcement officials. it is an evolving investigation. we told you we would keep you informed about this investigation. recently there was a press conference in the local area with the assistant director in charge of the los angeles office

providing details. the director will give you a briefing as well. the fbi has taken the lead in this investigation. they continue to work with our local partners who are outstanding, also along with the atf and u.s. marshals as well as we continue to investigate this. there is a lot of new information. moreirector will give you insight to that. so thank you for being here today. our heartsmey: continue to eight for the people lost and wounded in san bernardino and their families. i want to say were to and say how impressed we were with the response of local law enforcement in san bernardino. they were amazing. we are lucky that really good people become police officers. i want to say a word of thanks to people we do not talk about much, people who rendered doctors, nurses,

those are the people who are the angels of our business and don't get the thanks they serve. we want to make sure you understand this is a federal terrorism investigation led by the fbi. the reason for that is the investigation since far as developed indications of radicalization of the killers and the potential inspiration i-4 and terrorist organizations. and we are spending a tremendous amount of time over the last 48 hours trying to understand motives of these killers and trying to understand every detail of their lives. we are going through a large volume of electronic evidence. this is electronic evidence these killers tried to destroy and try to conceal from us. we know have this. we are keeping our minds but as we are trying to do. i know there are a lot of good questions that folks want to

answers -- wants it just four quickly. there are inspired to do things well and carefully. there is a lot of evidence that does not make sense, so we are trying to be thoughtful to understand it, so we understand the fullest of what we have here. let me offer you a couple of specifics. first, our investigation to old, we haveo days no indication these killers are part of an organized larger group formed part of a cell. there is no indication they are part of a network. i quickly add it is early. we are working hard to understand, but i wanted to know so far we do not see such indications. second, there is nothing in our horns about these two killers. i have seen reporting were folks have focused on reports that they were in contact, at least

one, was in contact with people who have been the subject of fbi investigations, investigations that were close or open. i urge you not to make too much of that. it were no contacts between the killers in the subject of our investigations. ehere's was such a significanc to raise those to our radar screens. i would not want you to over index on that it. as 48 hours old. there's much about this that does not make sense even those of us who do this for a living. that is the reason we have hundreds of people running down leads over the world and spending tremendous amount of time as we sit here trying to understand electronic record release two killers. that's me saying something the attorney general and i have said before, that is we know this is very unsettling he will of united states. what we hope you will do is not

let fear become disabling. generallytead into an awareness of your strength to get you to it that is where you're living your life, but if you see something that does not make sense, you say something to somebody. we look over our cases over the last 15 years and almost every case we find that somebody saw something, whether a family member or friend or coworker, and deduct a something, will went over fact that made their hair stand up on the backs of their next. do not do that. we have worked hard to get ourselves to a place where if you tell a deb fischer or call the fbi and say i thought something next door that seems off the online and off, it will get to the right people, and we will investigate it quickly and responsibily. responsibly.e

if there's nothing there, no harm done. if there was something there, great army be avoided. he would ask you channel that sense of fear into something of your an awareness surroundings, and let us do the ups to do, which is to investigate and fight terrorism, while you live your lives in this great country of ours. announcer: congress is back in session on monday. the house lands to take up legislation about the visa waiver program, which allows visitors to come to the u.s. for up to 90 days without a visa. in the aftermath of the paris text, leadership says those visitors should be screened work closely. congress must pass new spending to avoid a 11 shutdown. also an education bill that would replace the no child left behind law. the white house has said

president obama would sign it. >> all persons having business before the honorable supreme court of the united states are admonished to draw near and get their attention. announcer: monday, we will look carr. case of baker v. chief justice earl moran called it the most important case of my tenure on the court. here's a portion of the world. >> these tennessee voters in five of the largest cities in tennessee. they are the intended an actual victims of a statutory scheme which devalues, reduces their right to vote to about 1/20 of the value of the vote given to certain rural residents.

announcer: population shifts in states like tennessee had a majority of voters from rural areas moved to the city, yet the rural districts held voting power equal to the larger urban districts. a group of voters from nashville, memphis, and knoxville challenge the disparity and took their case to the supreme court. baker v. carr became a major case. joining us in the discussion, theodore olson, and douglas smith. that is live monday night at 9:00 eastern on c-span3 and c-span radio. one background on each case, order your copy of "land our k cases."

the republican jewish coalition hold a presidential candidate forum in washington yesterday. we will hear from some of those candidates next on c-span, starting with dr. ben carson. dr. carson: thank you very much. time tor was the first such israel, and it was cause as a student of the bible, to actually be in the where some of the events occurred that were so noteworthy, but what really

impressed me was the fact that the people absolutely surrounded by all kinds of horrors refused to allow their lives be depicted by terrorism. i want to make sure i get all my point today. this might be the first anybody has ever see me doing that, but i do not want to miss any of the point i wanted to make. two terms asng for the first president of a new nation, born from the ashes of european colony, george washington in his farewell address to the nation warned the citizens of the united states that it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world. washington was concerned about constant changing and realignments of various

countries and empires in europe and what that would mean for the united. 2015, ist-forward to would like to call your attention to a passage by israel's most recent foreign investor to the united states, wrote a book that looked at the relationship between united states and israel. i was taken by paragraph early in the book describing what titles the book "ally." he were the following -- "ally is a beautiful work that a vote andth and the fraternity, its meaning is invariably positive. one may be a partner, but never an ally in crime. counterpart is more simpler and stirring. literally the son of the covenant, and beyond that the

jewish people's special relationship with god. a special relationship is said to exist between israel and united states, and like it biblical precedent, that rick is both physical and eternal. any american president or candidate for president formulating policy toward israel will be well served to back at what makes the relationship between the united states and israel so special and eternal. if we examine history properly, it is easy to see the special bond between these two nations existed well before either country existed as a country. thehould look back to of the modern state of israel in 1948, and before our founding fathers gathered in philadelphia and decided to change the course of human history, the first settlers founded towns in this land names like bethlehem and

zion. they saw the new world as the new promised land and a land of religious freedom. it is drifting to note the first committee that was established to decide on a codat of arms for the new nation had the most its members five signers of the declaration of independence, george washington, benjamin franklin, and john adams. and were asked to deliver this ideal independently for the nation, and amazing coincidence. the three members of the committee offered the same image, images of the jewish taxes this from egypt. no image better represented the ideal of freedom on which the united states was founded. could you imagine president obama standing today in the white house press room with an

image of moses and jewish people in front of him? throughout our history, american president have had a special view of the jewish people and the state of israel even well before israel existed. believency adams said i in the rebuilding of judea as an independent nation, and abraham --can offer to palestine abraham lincoln referred to palestine as the national of jews. it is a noble dream. few countries started out as democracies. it evolved into democracies. israel was born in democracy and has stayed that way with the fundamental of tenets of democracy ever since. compare that to its neighbors. many countries in the middle east claimed to be democracies, but i would put forth that elections won with 99% of the vote going to one candidate or

elections won under the shadows of dictatorships are not democratic. while israel was born as a democracy can it was also born into a state of war, a state of war that has remained in one form or another ever since may of 1948. the site having fought the war of independence in 1948, the war of attrition in 1956, the six-day war in 1967, yom kippur war in 1973, the war in lebanon, taking 82, in the two gaza war's in 2007, and last year in 2014, israel has also been the constant threat of tens of thousands of this from hezbollah in southern lebanon, faced two it if i was, in a non-stop threat of islamic terrorism. that alleally sad is

of this could have been avoided because you and resolution 181 181 call forution the end of the british mandate any true partition plan for palestine. it called for the creation of a jewish eight and an arab state. the plan was accepted by the jews, but rejected by the arabs and, hence, the ever-present state of war. ariel sharon was the first prime minister to acknowledge and call for the two-state solution. other prime ministers have such a joined him in publicly calling for a two-state solution. while i am not here to debate a one-state or two-state solution, it is something that is for the israeli leadership to decide, but is raises the that the united nations, european union,

israeli, and even the palestinian authority are all pushing for a solution that the air themselves rejected in 1947. imagine how much blood could have been saved had the arabs agree to the eight years ago to exactly what they want to achieve today. [applause] carson: the role of the united states they should not be to force peace between israel and the palestinians, rather to help and enable an environment in which these can be forged. and the next president of the united states should start with a focus on supporting israel in its efforts to find a lasting peace. keywords "lasting." for too long, as i followed efforts to get the israelis and palestinians to agree to a peace deal, the focus has been on what

the future of the palestinian state looks like. as president, my focus frame the debate as to what the future israeli state would look like. [applause] dr. carson: the goal of a lasting is not merely to give the palestinians a state of their own and right to self-determination, but also to ensure the state of israel remains a jewish state for the jewish people forever, before -- [applause] dr. carson: before i go on to more detail about that, let 's focus on the issue of palestinian state. one of the main problems that i see is that the athenians are a people divided, divided by territory and by ideology. we know there is the geographic challenge in trying to unite gaza and the west bank. these territories are separated a mere 25 miles, and between

light some major israeli cities with large populations like beer sheba. uniting these territories split state of israel in half. beyond the territorial challenge, a much bigger challenge exists. the challenge is the split hamas,n fatah and which operate in a constant conflict. these two groups are constantly arrested each other's political foes in their respective territories. they reportedly torture each other's operatives and are continually buying for the support of the palestinian people. part of the problem is that secular while, is deeply religious. while there have been times in

the past when that groups try to operate governments, this has always devolved. the bottom line is if the israeli government to date with street to the 1967 borders and gave up jerusalem, there is no one palestinian group representative of a palestinian people that could ratify the agreement. thus, no peace agreement can be hamas-fatahil the issues is resolved. ich's ask ourselves, wh can the next president do to ewishrve the viable juice state within a lasting peace? we look at the current international proposals for a two-state solution as well as

listen to the leadership of the ian, it would be a unilateral palestinian state and effectively a binational they, namely israel, with a majority jewish population and well over 20% palestinian minority. one does not have to look too far into the future to see what the long-term outcome would be. the jewish state would eventually lose its jewish identity and palestinian birthrate continue to eclipse that jewish population. nationalld lead to a uni state eventually take over the binational jewish state as the palestinian population and israel continued to grow. in addition to this threat there is the geographical threat created by basing a two-state solution on the 1967 borders. if this were to occur, the result would be an israel with

sections of the country less than 10 miles left and partly bordered on the west by cows and east by the west bank. the distance of the border between israel and with two countries like iraq and iran would be measured in the hundreds of miles. this gives israel and almost zero ability to defend herself practically from any sort of armored attack. moreover, the 1967 borders would give back the high ground to syria in the golan heights is is immersed potentially fatal effects for israel. first, it would allow any and me to lunch missiles to rain down on israeli operations centers. with isis, the iranians, and others operating in syria, one can only think of the sheer have voc that would- ha be created.

second, it gives syria the ability to either control or pollute israel's only freshwater supply can see of galilee. looking past these territorial issues, there also remains the issue of acting as a conduit for iranian-backed weapons. much outbreak has been leveled against israel for blockading gaza, but the only blockade existed was the blocking of missiles used to target israeli citizens. medical supplies has not been blockaded by israel. it is a reality that much of the building supplies allowed into rulesere used to go on -- weree used to build used to build tunnels. we were carefully people who might trying to shoot us. i raise these issues to say simply that we look forward to

american president and a healthy put forward by the president that backs the wishes and the desires of the israeli people and the government. second, that policy must ensure that israel comes out of these negotiations as a jewish state for generations to come. [applause] carson: franklin roosevelt, one of our most revered them credit presidents of said so eloquently, the american people, sell us to the cause of human freedom, have watched the efforts of the jews to renew in palestine because of their age and homeland and to reestablish jewish culture in a place where for centuries it first and whence it was carried to the far corners of the world. oftenot buy into the

heard refrain that in order to solve our problems in the middle the we much solve israeli-palestinian conflict first. [applause] dr. carson: it is a red herring to clean that violence across the middle east is the result of this conflict. i see some heads nodding, and puzzled looks at a press -- [laughter] dr. carson: let me elaborate. several sources and looked at the violence actually did in the last half of the 20th century. it is interesting to note since 1950, two years of the formation of israel, there have been 67 conflicts throughout the world resulting in 10,000 or more tests. atber one on the list, around 40 million, are the killings by the red chinese from 1949 to 1976. last on the list south yemen civil war, 1986, with 10,000 now, where does the

error-read israeli conflict rate? 49. deaths.sand that straigh 06% of the total number of deaths in all countries 1950 are the result of palestinian-israeli conflict. there is more telling statistics. the founding in 1948, there have millionut 11 muslims killed in conflicts, but only 35,000 result of palestinian-israeli companies. 35,000 muslim deaths from the arab-israeli conflict needs only .3% of muslim deaths have been

the result of this conflict. over 90% of the 11 billion muslims killed 1948 have been killed as a result of muslim-muslim violence and conflicts. i raise these points because i believe problems facing west currently are the result of turmoil in the middle east and that has almost nothing to do with the israeli-palestinian issue. [applause] as president, i would do what i could to try to create that kind of peace that i had previously outlined between israelis and the palestinians. america to understand and acknowledge that he's in the middle east is not -- that teeth in the middle east is not predicated on the peace between the israelis and the palestinians. the middle east certainly, one of the most complicated reaches of the world, really

complicated, it is clear to me that the obama administration has zero understanding of this region and, hence, due to the policy of our present and his state department, the situation in the region is gone from bad to worse. that me give you an example of how much president obama misunderstands about region and our allies and allegiances in the region. as the air spring was on -- as the arab spring was unfolding, president obama and secretary clinton saw this as a movement of democratic uprisings throughout the region. while i do not have the time to discuss how run this was, i want to highlight one of the misguided outcomes our current administration precipitated. there has always been a power struggle in modern egypt between religious and secular factions. hosniited states backed mubarak, a dictator, but someone

who also regularly waste war against the islamic fundamentalists in his country. after the arab spring, obama and clinton just about the government of morsi, a leader of egypt's muslim brotherhood. the president decided to back it leader who represented the essence of the islamic fundamentalism. hat workedw how t out. moderate anti-fundamentalist party got elected into power in egypt. fast-forward to last year during hamas.aeli gaza war with as it dragged on for almost 50 days, the war started by hamas and its firing of missiles into population areas, obama and kerry searched for an

intermediary to negotiate a truce. we know the most important party in helping to implement a truce is egypt. because egypt shares a border with gaza and egypt can help enforce it weapons embargo both on the land as he. also, trade and freedom of movement between gaza and egypt can only be forced by egypt themselves. turkey and qatar. besides the fact that qatar is called hamas, and turkey israeli policies worse than azis, they hold them in great disdain. partner interest

asking the wrong country to get involved. my point is the world is complicated, the middle east is even more complicated, and because of it is so complicated, the president has to adhere to keep principles when deciding on foreign policy, particularly as it pertains to the middle east. as president, you're our three principles that would formulate the foundation of my approach to these affairs. control number 1 -- national security of the united they are citizens the single most incineration when determining foreign policy. [applause] not running for --sident or secretary of the secretary-general of the united nations or president of the european union or any other position, but rather for president of the united states, and would bear the

responsibility for defending our nation and her -- hence, all foreign policy decisions must be given to the national security interests. many of you know i am a man of devout faith. teaches compassion, morals, and ethics. foreign policy can maintain our interest while also being able to teach the world and compassionate high ground, and we should pursue it. when those two things are at odds, national security must are other considerations. as you may have heard -- i visited syrian refugees in jordan over the thanksgiving weekend. my heart goes out to these people who simply want to live their lives spirit they want to send their kids to school, go to work, have dinners with family, live without the shadow of war and terror hanging of them. it is the moral and compassionate thing to open our arms and welcome them into our

nation. we do not have the tools to every single one. and from the standpoint of our national security, no u.s. president should adopt a policy that will likely allow terrorists to legally insular the united states by a refugee settlement program warned out of our compassion. -- born out of our commission. the answer is to create safe aves for refugees in syria and enjoy the protection, and a lot of those exist already in jordan. we along with our allies have the military power to keep them safe, and we have the resources available to provide shelter, clothing, food, and anything else. this is the perfect example of how i would u.s. foreign-policy in a way that puts our national security first, it maintains a compassionate and morality that we americans are famous for.

we are currently facing a clash of civilizations against islam and western values. i keep israel as our canary in the coal mine got me as israel, so goes western civilization, but also as the tip spirit in this class. democracy in a true sense of the world. where else in the middle east do women have the same right as men? where else does the government allowed gay pride parades? there are arabs who serve as doctors, lawyers, teachers. there is even an arab supreme court justice. arabs and israelis of the same right to medical care, social andrity, the ballot box, arab members are allowed to serve in the parliament. there are more women pilots in israel than women with drivers licenses in saudi arabia. [laughter]

israel is a true symbol of a pluralistic the democracy. the united states must do everything to support israel and embrace israel, israel, that her up as an example to her neighbors as to what freedom really means and what that freedom can bring to a nation if we as a country with a bond to israel that goes back century does not make this a foreign-policy priority, we might not be dooming israel, but western civilization itself. opposition toin his own secretary of state, each with the united states was the first nation to recognize the modern state of israel. it took him all of 11 minutes after david ben-gurion declared israel's establishment to say i had faith in israel before it

was established, i have faith in it now. i have faith in the state of israel and have faith that it is one of the everlasting bastions of western civilization. a strong economy makes for a strong foreign-policy. if we look back at the postwar era, it seems several presidents, including john f. kennedy and ronald reagan, understood the principle. they logic is by reducing the tax burden, one stimulate the economy, and it brings more revenue, even at a lower tax rate. more money into the treasury needs the government has more money to spend on the military. a larger military the united states can project more power into the places that he needs to at the same time. a strong illiterate is the best -- a strong military is the strongest insurer of peace.

it will be my focus to assimilate the economy and reducing the tax burden on and corporations, not because i believe it is a fair thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. i believe that by having the ability to project american strength anywhere in the world, anytime we need to keep americans safer at home, our allies stronger abroad, and make the world a safer place overall. and i think we need to always keep in mind that america may never have become a place if it a person whofor ,as a wealthy jewish merchant in washington's army was completely exhausted by funding. he gave all of his funds to in order to save the united states and some say, and no one

knows for sure, but that that is the reason there is a star of david on the back of them one dollar bill. judeo-christian values are the things that distinguishes us from so many people in the world. and that is what i rail so strongly against any way those values for the sake of political correctness. [applause] i once heard an old jewish proverb that says, even in a room of complete darkness, a single plane can illuminate the entire room. a war against the forces of darkness, but in this war against those forces of darkness, there is not one, but two flames illuminating the room, the state of israel and the united states of america. thank you very much. [applause]

>> watch your step. senator cruz: well, thank you very much, edward, for the very, very kind introduction, and it's been great spending time with ed and alyssa and their wonderful, wonderful family. it's so great to be with so many dear friends here this morning. i'd like to begin by just remembering those who were murdered in san bernardino yesterday. i would ask if we could observe a moment of silence in their honor.

senator cruz: at this point, the details of what happened in san bernardino are still unclear, but our prayers are with the families of those who were murdered, of those who were shot, and all of us are deeply concerned that this is yet another manifestation of terrorism, radical islamic terrorism here at home. coming on the wake of the terror attack in paris, this horrific murder underscores that we are at a time of war. whether or not the current

administration realizes it or is willing to acknowledge it, our enemies are at war with us, and i believe this nation needs a wartime president to defend it. [applause] senator cruz: in recent weeks, president obama traveled abroad to explain that he doesn't believe in american leadership, that he doesn't believe in america winning, quote, "i don't have time for that." you know, i have got to say, f.d.r. and j.f.k. and ronald reagan were spinning in their graves to hear an american president say he doesn't believe in american leadership or america winning. i'll tell you, when it comes to

radical islamic terrorism, i think our strategy to borrow a page from ronald reagan and the cold war should be very simple -- we win, they lose. [applause] senator cruz: and there are three things the next president should do to keep this nation safe. the first is speak the truth. [applause] senator cruz: the truth has power, and at this point, the politically correct doublespeak that comes from the obama administration has gone beyond the point of ridiculous. when the president stands up and says, the islamic state isn't islamic -- [laughter] senator cruz: that's just nutty.

[applause] senator cruz: we need a president who will call the enemy by its name -- radical islamic terrorism -- and we will defeat it. [applause] senator cruz: you know, there's a power to speaking the truth. back when israel was facing daily rocket fire with hamas, i joined with new york democrat kirsten gillibrand in introducing a resolution condemning hamas' use of human shields as a war crime. [applause] senator cruz: that resolution passed both houses of congress unanimously as we came together to speak the truth. likewise, following the terrorist attack that occurred in fort hood over five years ago, the obama administration refused to speak the truth, refused to acknowledge that nadal hasan, who had

communicated with anwar al-awlaki, a known radical cleric, who had asked about the permissibility of waving jihad against his fellow servicemen, who in walking through fort hood murdering 14 innocent souls yelled out, "allah akbar." as he committed that act of terrorism, the obama administration characterized that instead as workplace violence. one of the things i'm most proud about my tenure in the senate is that i introduced the legislation to mandate that the purple heart be awarded to those soldiers who were murdered. [applause] senator cruz: the obama pentagon fought tooth and nail against that legislation. yet, i'm proud to say on the senate armed services committee, i was able to earn the support of republicans and democrats. we passed it into law in december, and in april i was at the ceremony where those purple

hearts were awarded, and to each of the family members i simply shook their hands, looked them in the eyes and said, i'm sorry, i'm sorry it took five years to acknowledge the sacrifice of your loved one. you know, when it comes to speaking the truth, this administration does precisely the opposite. we have a president right now who at times operates as an apologist for radical islamic terrorists. now, i don't use that word lightly. the word "apologist" has a very specific meaning, someone that gives a rationalization, a justification, for the conduct. i was at the last national prayer breakfast, you'll recall the day before isis had lit a jordanian pilot on fire. the king of jordan, who was supposed to attend the prayer breakfast, had to fly back to

jordan, and president obama gave a speech in which he said, yes, isis commits terrorist attacks but so do christians and so do jews. and he then invoked the crusades and the inquisition. now, the last i checked, those ended about 900 years ago, and i don't think it's asking too much for the president of the united states to stay in the current millennium. [applause] senator cruz: and the argument this is just like the crusades and the inquisition is the same argument that isis and the terrorists use. it isn't beneficial when the secretary of state, john kerry -- you know him well. [laughter]

senator cruz: suggests months ago that israel could become an apartheid state, or when the secretary of state, john kerry, also says that the terrorist attack against charlie hebdo was understandable. the united states of america should not be trying to rationalize radical islamic terrorists. i tell you, when john kerry was nominated, only three senators voted against his confirmation. never have i been prouder than to have been in that gang of three. [applause] senator cruz: and when kerry called israel an apartheid state, i went to the senate floor and called for kerry's resignation.

and i would note that we need more senators, both republicans and democrats, that likewise call for accountability when the secretary of state uses language that undermines the safety and security of our allies. [applause] senator cruz: that's the second thing we need to do, we need to stand by our allies. all of us knew early in the obama administration, there were warning signs when in the opening weeks the president sent back to the united kingdom the bust of winston churchill. that was just a foreshadowing of things to come. and after seven years, we have not seen an administration more antagonistic and hostile to the nation of israel in the history of this country. if i'd suggested to you six

years ago that the elected prime minister of israel would come to america, would address a joint session of congress, and he would be boycotted by the president of the united states, the vice president of the united states, and every member of the cabinet, our friends in the media would have dismissed that as crazy conspiracy talk. that would never happen. i'll tell you, on the eve of that speech, i organized a panel discussion with elie wiesel to discuss the threat of the iranian nuclear deal. elie weisel wanted that to be a bipartisan discussion. so i invited one democrat after another democrat after another democrat after another democrat, we invited roughly a dozen democrats, and not a single democrat was willing to stand on a stage with elie weisel and discuss the iranian nuclear deal.

i will tell you it was truly humbling and powerful to be on that stage with a man who has seen the face of evil and can speak truth, with a moral gravity that when he said, as he did, that never again must mean never again, and the one threat of that happening is a nuclear iran. [applause] senator cruz: we need a president who will stand unapologetically with the nation of israel. [applause] senator cruz: when hamas murdered three israeli teenagers, i joined with new

jersey democrat bob menendez to introduce legislation providing a $500,000 reward for the terrorist who kidnapped naftali frantell. that passed the senate and thankfully they captured the terrorists before the house could take it up. just in the past couple of weeks, i put together a bipartisan coalition of some 30 senators to write to the e.u. to oppose their plan to require labeling on the products coming out of israel. and i have pledged that if i'm elected president, on the very first day in office, we will begin the process of moving the american embassy to jerusalem, the once and eternal capital of israel. [applause]

senator cruz: and let me tell you now as we see the global b.d.f. movement, unfortunately get more and more momentum behind it, in a cruz administration, any university that supports the b.d.s. movement will find its federal funds stripped away. and the third thing we need is we need to defeat our enemies. not to weaken them, not to degrate them but to defeat them. two years ago, the nation of iran named their ambassador to

the united nations hamid abudalabi, a known terrorist who participated in holding americans hostage. everyone in this town said, this is terrible, there's nothing we can do. i introduced legislation barring him and other known terrorists from coming to america. it passed the senate 100-0. it passed the house 435-0. and president obama signed it into law. [applause] senator cruz: part of the feeting our enemies is understanding who they are. and that means not going down the misguided foreign policy of barack obama and hillary clinton and, unfortunately, too many republicans in this town. in 2009, hillary clinton and barack obama led the effort to topple the government in libya. the consequence of that, libya has been handed over to radical

islamic terrorists fighting in a war zone. shortly thereafter, the obama administration led the effort to topple mubarak in egypt. the consequence of that, the muslim brotherhood, a terrorist organization, became the government in egypt. and now we see the obama administration with the support of politicians in both parties trying to topple the government in syria with no plan for what will replace it. if we are to defeat our enemies we need to be clear-eyed. that toppling a government and allowing radical islamic terrorists to take over a nation is not benefiting our national security interests. putting isis or al qaeda or the muslim brotherhood in charge of yet another state in the middle east is not benefiting our national security. instead, we need a president who

focuses clearly and says we will utterly destroy isis. [applause] senator cruz: who makes abundantly clear to any militant on the face of the earth, if you go and join isis, if you wage jihad against the united states of america, you are signing your death warrant. [applause] senator cruz: and then finally, we have the iranian nuclear deal. if i am elected president, i have pledged on the very first day in office to rip to shreds this catastrophic iranian nuclear deal. [applause]

senator cruz: you know, at some of these republican debates there have been other republican candidates for president who have said, gosh, that's not a very sophisticated approach. you don't understand. we need to wait and see if we can trust the iranians. let me tell you what. i do trust the iranians. when the ayatollah khomeini burns american and israeli flags and says death to america, i trust him that he means it. and i believe in peace through strength. we are facing a moment like munich in 1938. and president obama, like chamberlain, has come back from tehran promising peace in our time.

yet history has not been kind to those who have facilitated the gathering storm of homicidal maniacs who tell us they want to kill us. the next president needs to have the fortitude to say to the ayatollah khamenei in no uncertain terms, either you will stop your nuclear weapons program or we will stop it for you. [applause] senator cruz: and i want to give a word of hope and encouragement on all of this. i've said many times this election, this moment in time, is eerily similar to the late 1970's. the parallels between barack

obama and jimmy carter are uncanny. the same failed economic policies, the same misery, stagnation, and malaise, the same feckless and naive foreign policies. in fact, the exact same countries, russia and iran. openly laughing at and mocking the president of the united states. i believe this next election, 2016, is going to be an election like 1980, that we are going to win by painting in bold colors and not pale pastels. [applause] senator cruz: the manifest failures of the carter administration set the stage for the reagan revolution, which came from millions of americans across this country. it was a grassroots movement. it didn't come from washington. washington despised reagan.