Sen. Cotton calls for increased defense spending

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Freshman Sen. Tom Cotton made his first speech on the Senate floor Monday, calling on Congress and President Obama to increase military spending and end what he called an "experiment with retreat."

"I speak today for the first time on the Senate floor with a simple message: The world is growing more dangerous, and our defense spending is wholly inadequate to confront the danger," the 37-year-old Arkansas Republican said.

Cotton, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Congress must end the automatic defense cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act of 2011.

"We must have such hegemonic strength that no sane adversary would ever consider challenging the United States," he said.

Cotton, who defeated Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor last fall, has made a name for himself after less than three months in office by instigating a controversial letter to the leaders of Iran.

The March 9 letter, signed by Cotton and 46 other Republican senators, warned Iranian leaders that Congress could revoke any agreement between the Obama administration and the Iranian government on Iran's nuclear program. Negotiations are now underway between the U.S., its allies and the Iranians to try to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons while allowing them to use nuclear power for electricity.

"We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive branch agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei," says the open letter.

Democrats denounced the letter as an improper effort by Republicans to undermine sensitive negotiations between the U.S. State Department and Iran. Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake, one of seven Republicans who did not sign the letter, told The Arizona Republic that he "just didn't think it was appropriate" and that negotiations should be given a chance to succeed.

Cotton said Sunday that he had no regrets about the letter and is trying to prevent "a bad deal" between the U.S. and Iran.

"It's a simple fact of our Constitution that if Congress does not approve that deal, then it may not last," Cotton said on CBS' Face the Nation.

Secretary of State John Kerry, in a separate interview on Face the Nation, called Cotton's action an "unconstitutional, un-thought-out action by somebody who has been in the United States Senate for 60-something days."