Iran Nuke Deal: Republicans & Some Democrats Demand Obama Admin Give Congress The Text Of "Side Deals" With Iran

Editorial Cartoon by AF "Tony" Branco

Today in Washington, D.C. - July 23, 2015:
The House reconvened at 10 AM today.
Potential bills for consideration today:
H.R. 3009 - "To amend section 241(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to deny assistance under such section to a State or political subdivision of a State that prohibits its officials from taking certain actions with respect to immigration."
H.R. 1599 — "To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to food produced from, containing, or consisting of a bioengineered organism, the labeling of natural foods, and for other purposes."

Yesterday, the House passed (H.R. 1734 — "To amend subtitle D of the Solid Waste Disposal Act to encourage recovery and beneficial use of coal combustion residuals and establish requirements for the proper management and disposal of coal combustion residuals that are protective of human health and the environment."

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) today again spoke out on the Iran Nuke agtreement. Boehner said, "“On Iran, we’ve come to learn about two secret side deals regarding the regime’s nuclear program. These side deals pertain to key issues such as Iran’s past nuclear activities and access to the Parchin military facility. Congress and the American people have a right and an obligation to review these side deals, and we sent a letter to the president asking his administration to make sure that those documents are available for Congress and the American people to review.

“But one way we know that this is a bad deal is because the more we learn, the more questions we have. You know, is America safer with a deal that provides the world’s biggest state sponsor of terror with more than $100 billion in cash? Is America safer with a deal that allows Iran to evade inspectors for at least 24 days, and possibly longer? Is America safer with a deal that lifts the embargo on ballistic missiles? And is America safer with a deal where, after 10 years, Iran will have an industrialized nuclear program?

“Will America be safer? If it’s even a question, I think it’s a bad deal.”

The Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed post-cloture consideration of the motion to proceed to H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill.

The Senate is in recess between 12:30 and 2:15 PM.

Last night, the Senate voted 62-36 upon reconsideration to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 22.

At 10 AM, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee began a hearing on the Iran deal with Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew testifying.

In the News:
The Hill reports, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) want the administration to hand over two ‘side’ deals between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The two leaders joined Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kansas) in a letter to Obama on Wednesday asking for the administration to hand over the agreements ‘immediately.’

‘The purpose of the Iran Nuclear Agreement review Act is to ensure Congress has a fully informed understanding of the JCPOA,’ the letter states, referring to the Iran deal. ‘Failure to produce these two side agreements leaves Congress blind on critical information regarding Iran’s potential path to being a nuclear power and will have detrimental consequences for the ability of members to assess the JCPOA.’

“The letter comes after National Security Adviser Susan Rice acknowledged the so-called ‘side’ agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

The Washington Examiner adds, “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a floor speech that Congress has the legal right to review every part of the nuclear agreement between the United States and Iran.

‘The law gives Congress the right to review all of the elements of an agreement struck between the White House and Iran, and then take a vote on it,’ McConnell said. ‘The law is clear.’ He continued, "But the administration has not submitted the side agreements between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran to the Senate, withholding the text from both Democrats and Republicans in Congress." . . .

“McConnell called on the Obama administration to immediately provide the details of the deal. ‘Congress cannot properly carry out its obligation to the American people until the administration fulfills its legal obligation to the American people, and to Congress,’ McConnell said.”

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Iran deal today, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the ranking member of the committee, also called on the Obama administration to provide Congress with copies of these side agreements.

Beyond the side agreements, though, news reports today suggest the Obama administration is having trouble getting Democrats in Congress to quickly support its deal with Iran.

Politico writes, “President Barack Obama’s flood-the-zone strategy to sell his nuclear deal with Iran isn’t producing many immediate converts among a bloc of swing Democrats that will be critical to preserving the agreement. Though some liberal members in the House, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), have already come out enthusiastically for the nuclear accord, the Democrats that will ultimately decide whether Obama’s deal survives a congressional review process have not tipped their hands yet. . . .

“[S]everal senators, including Cardin, said it would be at least several weeks before they take a final position.

“Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), a Democratic leader, said it ‘would take us all a while’ before they settle on a position. And the fiercest Democratic critic of the Iran deal in the Senate, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, refused to even discuss Iran after the briefing. . . .

“In interviews, several Democrats said they at least need those two hearings and a couple of subsequent public events on Iran before they will come down for-or-against an Iran deal.”

The Hill adds, “The administration appeared to change few minds during a pair of closed-door briefings Wednesday on the deal that were led by Secretary of State John Kerry, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.

“‘We’re all in the process of understanding a very complicated agreement, and hearing from both sides — lots of sides — on this,’ Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said upon exiting Wednesday’s briefing.

“‘It’s fair to say there is bipartisan skepticism about whether Iran will meet its commitments under this deal, about whether the administration will hold them to it, and about what happens with all of Iran’s other activities which concern us so much,’ said Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), the head of the Armed Services Committee. . . .

“Depending on whether they are presented with a bill to kill the deal or endorse it, as much as half of all Democrats may break with the president, [Rep. Brad] Sherman [D-CA] speculated.”

And according to Bloomberg News, “New York Senator Chuck Schumer is in a rare predicament over President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran: He’s got nothing to say.

“Schumer, the characteristically outspoken Democrat in line to become his party’s next leader, is more consequential than just about any of the 14 or so Senate Democrats who may still be undecided over whether to back the deal. His clout in the chamber gives him the power to bring other lawmakers along.

“Yet he’s caught between a large Jewish-American constituency in New York skeptical of the accord and the Obama administration, which has begun a full-court press trying to safeguard Obama’s foreign policy achievement. . . .

“In the past few days, Schumer has brushed off reporters seeking his opinion on the agreement, repeating the same statement he made when the deal was reached July 14 that he’s going through it with a ‘fine-toothed’ comb.

“At home, Schumer has been pressured in particular by the New York Post, which in a July 20 editorial called for the three-term senator to make clear where he stands on the Iran deal. . . . During a Sunday appearance on MSNBC, Schumer said he hasn’t decided yet either way, while warning he’s willing to buck the president when necessary.”

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