Texas lawmakers in Congress discuss U.S. bombing of Iran, and whether to trust that nation won't rebuild its nuclear weapons program - CBS Texas
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Multiple U.S. and international agencies say the U.S. bombing of Iran's nuclear weapons sites, on top of Israel's attacks, have caused severe damage to the terrorist nation's program.
Republican U.S. Representative Pat Fallon, 4th Congressional District in North Texas, told CBS News Texas that he fully supported President Trump's military operation. In an interview for Eye On Politics, he said, "I think President Trump took the right action. It was a decisive action. It's obvious that Iran's nuclear program is a lot worse off today than it was just a few weeks ago and this is the nation state that's the largest state sponsor of terror in the world. They're responsible for the death of over 600 U.S. service members in Iraq. So this is a regime that definitely needed to be curtailed and we don't want to see them go nuclear."
In an interview for Eye On Politics, Democratic U.S. Representative Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch told CBS News Texas that the bombings were in the national interest for the U.S. and Israel. "We don't want a nuclearized Iran, right. That is a full stop. Nobody wants Iran to possess nuclear weapons. And so obviously, the President felt like they needed to intervene that Israel obviously had taken those steps. The men and women of our military executed the mission that the President had for them. Seems like they executed well. I'm thrilled that there's a cease fire. That's what we want. We want peace in the region."
Neither Johnson nor Fallon said they trust Iran to do the right thing and not attempt to rebuild their nuclear weapons program. Johnson said, "I think we always have to be suspicious. They're a very hostile power to the United States. They're a hostile power to Israel and their right to exist. They have been an enemy of this country for many years, so I don't think we can trust them to do anything at this point."
Fallon said, "I 100 percent do not trust the theocratic authoritarian regime in Tehran. Absolutely not. We know we cannot trust them, and we can't verify. So, any agreement that we have moving forward has to be verifiable with the International Atomic Energy Agency to give them that access to ensure that there's not centrifuges, that there's not enriching uranium to weapons grade things of that nature, and that's complete, open unfettered access. Otherwise, it's not worth the paper that it's written on any agreement with these folks."
After the President's decision to bomb Iran, U.S. Representative Al Green, D-Houston, filed a resolution to impeach President Donald Trump. While 79 Democrats in the House voted for the resolution, most of the Democratic members of Congress voted to table the resolution.
They include Representative Johnson who explained, "We don't have the votes to impeach the President. And so, it's just simple as that. Democrats have tried that path. They've sung that song twice now unsuccessfully, and it just creates diversion from the message that Democrats have that's really permeating through the people of this country."
Fallon criticized the Democrats. "That was an absurd vote. It's just throwing slop to the extreme left."
Jack Fink covers politics for KTVT-TV CBS 11 and has been with the station since September 2003.