WASHINGTON – A Pennsylvania Congressman invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks Friday while railing against the international nuclear agreement with Iran, drawing a rebuke from a New York Democrat whose cousin died in the attacks.
Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Western Pennsylvania, took to the House floor alongside a poster-sized photo of the World Trade Center and Pentagon engulfed in smoke and flames as he spoke out against the Iran deal, just before a vote on the agreement.
"I want you to let your mind drift back to 14 years go on a morning very eerily like today," Kelly said.
"As we let our eyes fill with tears over the great loss that day, and as our ears pick up on the message from our enemies in the East: death to Israel, death to the great Satan, death to America," he said, "Never again! Never again! Never again!"
"Do not cave in," Kelly continued. "Do not sacrifice the safety, the security and the stability of 300 million Americans for the legacy of one man … Vote against the greatest betrayal we have ever seen in this country."
When he finished, Rep. Sander Levin (D., Mich.), stood quietly for a moment. "I pause for a minute," he said, shaking his head.
A few minutes later Rep. Joseph Crowley (D., N.Y.), said Kelly "did a disservice to the House and to this debate by bringing up the issue of 9/11."
"I do thank him for his honesty, for at least showing that that's what this is all about, having this debate today and this vote today – to stir the emotions of the American people," said Crowley, who supported the Iran deal.
"My emotions are always stirred on this day," Crowley said. "I knew people who died that day- my cousins died, my friends died, I don't need to be reminded of that but it will not cloud my decision making on this important issue."
There has been no link found between Iran and the 9-11 attacks, though some critics of the nuclear deal have warned that lifting sanctions will give Iran more money to fund terrorism.
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