to see the destruction coming from the American and Israeli military,
and it would rally the opposition, and the Ayatollahs would collapse
and give up, and there would be a regime change and a new era in Iran.
  It has gotten worse. They are younger and more radical, and they have
more leverage.
  Now, I want to be really clear here. The mistake is not ending the
war; it was starting it in the first place. Every day this war went on
only compounded that catastrophe, and so we ought to be relieved that
it may be over and that diplomacy is being given another chance,
because it is the only viable path forward.
  But none of that obviates the fact that we are suing for peace
because it is the least bad option; that a diplomatic solution was
within reach all along, before a single bomb was dropped; that after
several months of a deadly and costly war, things are worse, not
better.
  On February 27, the day before the war started, the Strait of Hormuz
was open. Oil and other commodities like fertilizers flowed freely to
all of the places around the world. Now, under the MOU, the strait is
open again but only for 60 days, after which Iran is reserving the
right to charge a fee for ships to pass.
  Do you understand how unprecedented it is in terms of international
law, in terms of international commerce, in terms of the way this
planet works with the freedom of navigation, that one belligerent
country now gets to charge a fee if you want to move something through
international waters?
  That is not a ``w.'' That is not good for this country or regional
stability.
  Under the original Iran agreement that President Obama signed and
Trump later ripped up, Iran promised not to develop a nuclear weapon.
It was right there on the first page of the JCPOA. And what it meant
was that Iran would not produce the kind of highly enriched uranium
that could be used in a nuclear weapon.
  They have renewed that commitment in the MOU, except for a much
higher price this time.
  Under the JCPOA--and I remember. I was on the floor. I was a baby
Senator here, and my colleagues on the other side of the aisle said:
Oh, my God, you are unfreezing Iranian-sanctioned money, assets to the
tune of many billions of dollars.
  Can you believe how much money we are giving to Iran in exchange for
this pause in the development of their nuclear program? Can you believe
that you are giving money to Iran? Look at how belligerent they are in
the region.
  That was the argument. OK, I thought it was worth it because it was
basically buying us 15 years of them not being capable to develop a
nuclear weapon.
  But under this--and, by the way, not in exchange for a nuclear
agreement, in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days.
  So I want you to understand, what they are getting is enormous, but
it is also not even for a nuclear agreement. It is for an agreement to
stop choking the global economy, not only where their assets will be
unfrozen, but they will be able to sell their oil freely on the open
market for the first time in 30 years.

  That is not some $1.7 billion concession. That is not some $10
billion concession. That changes generations of bipartisan policy
against the Iranian regime.
  One of the reasons that they were not even more belligerent, even
more powerful was that we were heavily sanctioning their oil. And we
are lifting it in exchange for not a nuclear agreement but just for
them to take their boot off the necks of the global economy.
  And so, I reiterate this point: Keep two thoughts in your head. First
of all, the main error was in starting this stupid regime-change war in
the first place, and that you don't have to be some member of the
Foreign Relations Committee or some fancy foreign policy expert or some
professor at some school that studies the Middle East to say: Hey, you
know what, these same dudes keep asking for a new regime-change war in
the Middle East about every decade. They usually get it, and it always
fails. And they did it again, and it failed again.
  And that is a different thing from me demanding that they continue
this idiocy. I am not demanding that they continue this idiocy. I am
glad that they are finally folding.
  But make no mistake. They are folding, and they are folding because
they played a terrible hand, as terribly as you could possibly play it.
  And so, all I am asking--if you are an Iran hawk, if you are a dove,
if you are anywhere in between--is let's have a logical foreign policy.
Let's understand that Iran is a belligerent country--they are not our
allies--and that almost every single time--not every time, but almost
every single time--kinetic engagement without any kind of strategy
doesn't work. It always backfires.
  And, by the way, that is, generally speaking, true. It is,
extraordinarily, predictably true in the Middle East.
  And I want to make one final point: It is the same people every time.
It is the same foreign policy think tanks. It is the same people in the
media. It is the same nonprofits. It is the same Members of Congress.
  They just look around the planet for a place to remake with force.
And there may be a couple of examples in human history where you can
remake a place with force, but usually it backfires spectacularly.
  And it did here again.
  I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the
order for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The Senator from Colorado.

                          Trump Administration

  Mr. HICKENLOOPER. Mr. President, as a former English major, one of
the great tales in Greek mythology was the legend of King Midas.
  As the story goes, Midas was granted a wish. He wished that
everything he touched would turn to gold.
  At first, it seemed like a blessing. Twigs became gold. Stones became
gold.
  Midas thought he had found true wealth. But he soon realized it
wasn't much of a blessing. It was more of a curse.
  Midas' food turned to gold. His water turned to gold. And,
eventually, even his daughter turned to gold.
  The lesson is simple: A man who mistakes gold for greatness will end
up with neither.
  President Trump never learned that lesson, and he corrupts pretty
much whatever he touches.
  Take his gold-plated ballroom. The President promised it wouldn't
cost taxpayers a nickel, but those promises turned out to be fool's
gold.
  The cost has skyrocketed and President Trump now wants to spend $300
million of your taxpayer money to pay for it. He is not building
affordable housing in Denver, Durango; he is building a ballroom for
himself and his rich friends to enjoy.
  President Trump promised to drain the swamp; instead he has turned
the Reflecting Pool into an algae-infested bird killer. The
administration awarded a no-bid contract for this project to President
Trump's neighbor, one of his donors. The renovation was supposed to
cost $1.5 million. It is now estimated at $16 million, and the job
still isn't done.
  President Trump isn't working to extend the Affordable Care Act
subsidies or reverse the Medicaid cuts that will kick 240,000
Coloradans off of their healthcare. His Reflecting Pool got a makeover
while our insurance pool was gutted.
  Now President Trump wants to build an enormous arch near Arlington
Cemetery. While planning this project, he unilaterally, on his own
volition, went to war with Iran, promising immediate victory, total and
complete.
  What he has delivered is one of the great failures in our Nation's
history. He made America less safe and less secure.
  He made America's economy weaker, and 14 American servicemembers lost
their lives. When asked about the tragic casualties, President Trump
said:

       [T]here will likely be more before it ends. That's the way
     it is.
       That's the way it is.