U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) today delivered remarks at the ACT for America National Security Legislative Briefing, where he accepted the 2017 National Security Eagle Award. There, Sen. Cruz discussed various national security threats facing the United States including the Muslim Brotherhood, the IRGC, and a nuclear North Korea.

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A complete transcript of Sen. Cruz’s remarks are below, and a video of his remarks may be viewed here.

Good morning. Thank you very much for the wonderful reception. Thank you for the great work y’all do each and every day. I understand that this conference has generated a little bit of controversy and you have attracted the attention of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Given the sorry record of that Leftist institution of targeting groups that have the temerity not to be bound by political correctness and to speak out the truth despite PC orthodoxy, let me commend you - if they’re coming after you, you’re probably doing something right.

You know, it is a sad statement that the process of speaking the truth is deemed a radical act. The process of calling a terrorist a terrorist is somehow radical and extreme. I live in a very simple world, where truth, is truth, is truth. And I commend the men and women here for a dedication to truth, to defending our nation and to seeing clear eyed the enemies that would do us harm.

I want to talk about three different groups that pose significant threats to the United States of America. The first is the Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood should be marginalized not legitimized. One critical source of inspiration for radical Islamic terrorism is the Muslim Brotherhood, whose ultimate mission is the spread of Islamic law and governance, and govern with Sharia Law by force if need be, to all corners of the earth. The Brotherhood’s influence is far-reaching, stretching all the way into the United States. The Brotherhood is not some “moderate group” that the U.S. should welcome with open arms, but it is an organization firmly committed to violent jihad as explained explicitly in its charter.

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A second terrorist organization is the IRGC. The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terror. And the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, serves as both a military and economic stronghold for Iran. The IRGC is responsible for exporting Iran’s radical ideology and subsidizing terror across the globe.

The U.S. Treasury Department has designated the IRGC-Quds Force for its involvement in terrorism, but the State Department has yet to take action.

As a result of the foolhardy and dangerous Obama-Iran nuclear deal, IRGC-owned and affiliated companies have greater access to the global financial system, which in turn lends increased economic support to IRGC’s terrorist activities. In fact, Iran has quadrupled its financial support to Hezbollah to $800 million a year. Aren’t we glad we flew a billion and a half dollars in cash, in unmarked bills, in cargo planes, in the middle of the night?

By the way, let’s go back to the blazingly obvious. Imagine you are selling your house. You’re selling your house, the buyer comes and says alright I’m going to buy your house but I’m not going to get a mortgage and I am not even going to pay in checks. I’ve got a couple of duffle bags out in the trunk of $20’s, rolled up with rubber bands. Do you mind if I pay for your house with these duffle bags full of cash? Now let me ask you, just using the ordinary human safety alert - would that set off some bells? Listen here Tony Montana - a couple of Scarface fans here - okay in this analogy the Obama Administration is the drug dealer.

The only way to mitigate the damage that Iran and IRGC is doing is to place the IRGC as a whole on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list, which will signal to the U.S. and foreign financial institutions and companies that if you do business with the IRGC, you will be held liable. Any effort that allows financing to flow to the IRGC is an effort that is directly financing terror.

I am grateful the initiative that I introduced was included in a comprehensive sanctions package passed earlier this year, the Countering Iran’s Destabilizing Activities Act, which recognizes the IRGC as independent of the Quds Force, and requires the President to impose sanctions on the IRGC and its affiliates. And we need to pressure our allies to adopt the same strategy and hold the regime accountable.

Both of these bills that I have introduced would greatly advance the cause of defending this nation against radical Islamic terrorism. This potent threat to our civilization has intensified over the past decade, due to the willful blindness of the Obama Administration. The politically correct policies that hamper our safety and security.

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Lastly, yet another terrorist threat we face apart from that of radical Islam, is the threat of a nuclear North Korea and the danger posed by that rogue nation. In 28 days, the Department of State faces a critical decision that will significantly impact our relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Iran-Russia-North Korea sanctions bill enacted in August included within it legislation that I introduced, requiring the Secretary of State to decide whether to once again list North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism. I hope that the State Department will once and for all take this critical step.