ICYMI: Chairman Emeritus McCaul on Fox News Sunday
WASHINGTON – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Emeritus Michael McCaul (R-Texas) joined Shannon Bream on Fox News Sunday to discuss the latest on efforts to pass tough Russian sanctions, operations in Iran, and the SAVE America Act.
Excerpts from the interview:
On Senator Graham's Russian sanctions bill and Ukraine's current momentum: "...Nothing would honor Lindsey's legacy greater than the Congress passing this sanctions bill. Because he knew to be strong at home, you have to project strength abroad. He knew that Russia and China and Iran are all tied in this together. This bill not only punishes Russia and energy coming out of Russia, it also hurts Iran, and it also hurts China. ...
"With respect to conditions on the ground, I was near the front lines with the soldiers there, the commanders. The drone operations are absolutely stunning [With so many] casualties on the Russian side, [Ukraine is] actually winning this war. I think President Trump likes a winner, and that's why he came out at the NATO summit supporting Ukraine's efforts in getting Patriot licensing agreements. And this moral support for Ukraine was huge in terms of Zelensky's reaction and on the front lines. Lastly, they need these interceptors. Every night when I was in Kyiv, they're getting bombed by ballistic missiles. Last night, they had about 20 ballistic missiles ... And we have to help them to stop that bombing."
On the status of operations in Iran: "Remember, the military was winning this war against Iran. And by the way, I applaud President Trump, the first [president] since 1979 to take action against a nuclear Iran. And having said that, you know, our military is winning. We stopped to negotiate a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement. That did not work with this regime. I was not sanguine about that being successful. So now we're going to move forward with plan A again. The military is going to move in, take out their launch pads, take out their ability to send Shahed drones to hit tankers, [and launch] missiles. [It is the] same thing, quite frankly, that Ukraine is doing against Russia. We're going to do that against Iran. They're using the same drones, the Shahed drones. But we’ve got to knock out these targets inside of Iran to open up the Strait of Hormuz. That has to be the fundamental, key objective right now."
On the need to pass Reconciliation 3.0: "This is not just about Iran, by the way. This is about modernizing and replenishing our stockpiles, modernizing our defense industrial base. We have so many threats out there. It's not just Iran. It's the eastern flank of NATO and Russia. It's also the Indo-Pacific and China. And we've been behind the curve on this. I support this funding along with the SAVE America Act, which is put in there as well."
On efforts to pass the SAVE America Act: "To me, it’s very simple: The law says you have to be a citizen to vote. All we're talking about is implementing the law and enforcing the law, so I see it as a very simple measure. ...
"You know, the president talked a lot about China. I prosecuted the China investigation. [In] 1997 they were putting money into the Clinton campaign. My last campaign and Senator Marco Rubio at that time had a disinformation campaign launched against us by China. They are interfering in these elections. We need to take this integrity issue seriously, and that's why it's important to pass [the SAVE America Act]."