{"id":57426,"date":"2015-01-30T20:15:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-30T20:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T00:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T00:17:06","slug":"freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/","title":{"rendered":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>WASHINGTON <span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">\u2014 <\/span><span style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\">A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just three weeks after being sworn in, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., sent a message about how he views his role on issues like Iran&#8217;s nuclear weapons ambitions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;So first, I would say that I think it was a mistake to ever go down this path,&#8221; Cotton said, referring to the Obama administration&#8217;s decision to enter into talks with Iranian leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former House member minced few words in describing his view of the Iranian regime and its intentions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Iran is a radical Islamist theocracy whose constitution calls for jihad,&#8221; he said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing where the panel easily approved a bill that would slap <a href=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/story\/defense\/policy-budget\/congress\/2015\/01\/29\/iran-sanctions-nuclear-weapons-obama\/22524903\/\" title=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/story\/defense\/policy-budget\/congress\/2015\/01\/29\/iran-sanctions-nuclear-weapons-obama\/22524903\/\">new sanctions<\/a> on Iranian individuals and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Its leaders have honored that constitution for 35 years, killing Americans in 1983, killing Americans in 1996, having a nasty habit with their proxies of killing Jews all around the world in Argentina and Bulgaria and in Israel,&#8221; Cotton said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;And most recently, controlling or exerting dominant influence over five different capitals in the Middle East &#8212; Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut and now Sanaa,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/budget-policy\/congresswatch\/\">For the latest national security news from Capitol Hill, go to CongressWatch<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cotton struck a hawkish tone, saying he &#8220;would rather see these negotiations end because I think the administration is committed to a deal at all costs or committed to dragging out negotiations and letting Iran achieve in slow motion what they otherwise could not achieve through a deal.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cotton offered two strict amendments, but the panel shot down both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One would have altered the Iran sanctions bill &#8212; crafted by Banking Committee members Mark Kirk, R-Ill., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., also the Foreign Relations Commitee&#8217;s ranking member &#8212; to make all its new sanctions effective July 6. As the duo crafted those penalties, they will be phased in over a series of months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The other Cotton amendment would have limited President Barack Obama&#8217;s ability to waive existing waivers to one more 30-day period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In explaining the amendment, Cotton sounded like his more experienced GOP mates in hammering Obama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I would say that the president has overlooked or turned a blind eye to Iran&#8217;s actions over the last 14 months,&#8221; Cotton said, &#8220;and if he&#8217;s so hellbent on getting a deal that he will continue to waive the sanctions in this legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think we, as a Congress, should only give him the power to seek another 30 days,&#8221; said Cotton, also an Armed Services Committee member. &#8220;At that point, it will have been 21 months. Surely, 21 months is enough time to reach a deal that Secretary [of State John] Kerry predicted would take only three to six months.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He wasn&#8217;t finished, penning a Wall Street Journal op-ed that appeared Friday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In it, Cotton dubbed a nuclear-armed Iran &#8220;the gravest threat facing America today.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;The Obama administration&#8217;s nuclear negotiations with Iran, the so-called P5+1 talks, were supposed to stop Iran&#8217;s rush to a nuclear bomb,&#8221; Cotton wrote. &#8220;Regrettably, what began as an unwise gamble has descended into a dangerous series of unending concessions, which is why the time has come for Congress to act.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 37-year-old Cotton received plum committee assignments, especially for a young freshman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was placed on the Armed Services Committee &#8212; where he was welcomed with open arms by Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., who handed the first-term senator the gavel of the Tactical Air and Land Forces subcommittee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cotton also landed on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence; Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee; and Joint Economic Committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">GOP sources say the assignments appear strategic, with Republican leaders clearly tapping the Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran for bigger things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Michael Herson, president and CEO of Washington consultancy American Defense International, said Friday that Cotton already is &#8220;a star&#8221; in Republican circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;His star will continue to rise, but he&#8217;s not just a rising star. He&#8217;s already there,&#8221; said Herson, a former Pentagon official who also worked for former-President Ronald Reagan and then-Vice President George H.W. Bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I mean, he only did two years in the House, and he&#8217;s already a Senate subcommittee chairman,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think he has to buy his time at all and hope to get amendments passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think McCain obviously has a tremendous amount of confidence in him or McCain wouldn&#8217;t have made him chairman of the most powerful of SASC&#8217;s subcommittees,&#8221; Herson said. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to write a major part of the national defense authorization act, so he can put things into the bill. And it has to pass.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What&#8217;s more, unlike lawmakers who hail from states with large military bases or defense industry facilities that are economic engines back home, Arkansas lacks both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;That means Cotton doesn&#8217;t have those parochial interests,&#8221; Herson said. &#8220;He can be an honest broker and a national figure on these issues.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i><span style=\"background: white;\">Email: <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:jbennett@defensenews.com\"><i><span style=\"background: white;\">jbennett@defensenews.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;\">Twitter:<\/span><span style=\"color: #5b9bd5; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BennettJohnT\">@bennettjohnt<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":115353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[8,33,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1090],"class_list":["post-57426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-home","category-pentagon"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"522BK6T6EBFWPASAU3CPKLGS6M","arc_canonical_url":"\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging - Defense News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Defense News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John T. Bennett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John T. Bennett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 851,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"Congress\",\n\t                \"Home\",\n\t                \"Pentagon\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging - Defense News\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/30\\\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Congress\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/congress\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"congress\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Defense News\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/defensenews-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Defense News\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/defensenews\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging - Defense News","description":"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging","og_description":"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/","og_site_name":"Defense News","article_published_time":"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00","author":"John T. Bennett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John T. Bennett","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging","datePublished":"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/"},"wordCount":851,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg","articleSection":["Congress","Home","Pentagon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/","name":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging - Defense News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg","datePublished":"2015-01-30T20:15:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T00:17:06+00:00","description":"A freshman US senator is wasting no time letting his new colleagues know he plans to be aggressive on national security and foreign policy matters.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/2015\/01\/30\/freshman-sen-cotton-comes-out-swinging\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/congress\/","ad_zone":"congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Freshman Sen. Cotton Comes Out Swinging"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","name":"Defense News","description":"Covering the politics, business and technology of defense | Defense News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#organization","name":"Defense News","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/defensenews-logo-white.png","caption":"Defense News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Defense News","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635582255727861319-cottonjpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57426"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57426\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57435,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57426\/revisions\/57435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57426"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=57426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}