JUST IN: Lankford on CNN — ‘You Act First To Protect American Lives… But We Should Never Rush Into A War’

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WASHINGTON, DC — Senator James Lankford (R-OK), a member of the Senate Intelligence and Homeland Security Committees, joined The Arena with Kasie Hunt on CNN today to address the escalating threats posed by Iran, as well as the recent surge in political violence here at home.

Excerpts:

On US Involvement In Destroying Iran’s Nuclear Program:

“If America is directly involved in a direct threat towards us, yes, you act first to be able to protect American lives. If not, no, you do not.”

On The Risks Of Using Bunker-Busting Bombs:

“Everyone seems to forget that there’s also enriched uranium—about 900 pounds—that’s actually stored in that area. When you’re talking about dropping a bunker-busting bomb, you’re talking about very enriched uranium inside of a mountain tunnel system. That may not be the best thing for us to do. . . We need to be careful.”

On The Brutal Regime In Iran:

“If 9/11 taught us anything, when people chant ‘Death to America’ thousands of miles away, that does have consequences, they can carry that out. . .  [The Iranians] have been active in trying to be able to kill Americans in the past. So they’re dancing on a threshold there, seeing how close they can get to attacking Americans without our response.”

“We most certainly need to have regime change in Iran. This is the same regime that’s threatened America and Americans, this is the same regime that oppresses their own people, that they use the oil money to be able to put towards terrorism to be able to kill us and our allies. They chant ‘Death to America’ in the streets. We definitely need a new regime there, but that’s not necessarily saying that we need to be able to assassinate the Ayatollah as well. But we definitely need to have new leaders there.”

On Political Violence And The Recent Minnesota Tragedy:

“When the news came out, I happened to be home with my wife and we both just sat there and watched the news, just grieved and thinking, ‘How can this be America?’”

“This is a moment to be able to say we grieve for those families. We hate all violence like this. This is not America. This is not who we are.”

On Continuing To Serve Despite The Danger:

“All of us as Members of Congress face death threats on a regular basis. There have been just in the past year 9,000 threats against members of Congress.”

“This constant culture that is growing and the threats that are coming out online…is destabilizing to a nation. So we as a nation have to learn how to be able to speak to each other again, how to be able to disagree, but yes, we all face fears and threats that are coming at us constantly, but that cannot deter us from doing the job that we have been asked by our state and by our constituents to be able to do.”

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