Senators Demand 'Secret Annexes" To Iran Deal | Iranians Are Practices Cheaters | Deal Lifts Sanctions On Iran
Today in Washington, D.C. - July 22, 2015:
The House reconvened at 10 AM this morning. The will consider taking up the following two bills:
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.
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."
Yesterday the House passed the following:
H.R. 237 (Voice Vote) — "To authorize the revocation or denial of passports and passport cards to individuals affiliated with foreign terrorist organizations, and for other purposes."
H.R. 2256 (408-0) — "To amend title 38, United States Code, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit an annual report on the Veterans Health Administration and the furnishing of hospital care, medical services, and nursing home care by the Department of Veterans Affairs."
H.R. 1557 (403-0) — "To amend the Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 to strengthen Federal antidiscrimination laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and expand accountability within the Federal government, and for other purposes."
This morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) discussed the latest House action to address the people’s priorities, and reiterated his pledge to fight a bad deal with Iran that puts our national security, and that of our allies, at risk.
He said, "Here in the House, the people’s priorities continue to be our priorities. We’ve enacted the first real entitlement reform in nearly two decades; we’ve passed initiatives to fight human trafficking; improve veterans’ care; and most recently to promote free trade and American jobs.
"This week, we’ll act to stop EPA regulations that’ll be killing thousands of jobs here in America. And soon we’ll complete a national defense authorization bill so that our troops get the pay raise that they deserve.
"And while the president’s Iran deal may have been applauded at the United Nations, I think he faces serious skepticism here at home. Let me just assure you that Members of Congress will ask much tougher questions this afternoon when we meet with the president’s team. Because a bad deal threatens the security of the American people – and we’re going to do everything possible to stop it."
The Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and began a period of morning business.
This afternoon, the Senate will reconsider yesterday’s failed cloture vote on the motion to proceed to H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill which was originally a bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exempt employees with health coverage under TRICARE or the Veterans Administration from being taken into account for purposes of determining the employers to which the employer mandate applies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Editor and most readers deplore these deceptive tactics of using a bill number and content for purposes of passing a bill other than originally intended by the authors.
Later, members of Congress will have the opportunity to attend a briefing on the Obama administration’s agreement with Iran.
Yesterday, the Senate voted 41-56 against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to (i.e. whether to take up and debate) H.R. 22, the vehicle for the highway bill. While all Yea votes were Republican, there were 7 Republicans who voted no which included Sen. McConnell who as Majority Leafer may vote no simply to allow the bill to be reconsidered again. Two Republicans 1 Democrat did not vote on the bill (they may have been absent)
This morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor, "[T]he onus is on any Administration to explain why a deal like this one is a good one for our country. It's always the Administration, not Congress, that carries the burden of proof in a debate of this nature. And it seems the Administration today has a long way to go with Democrats and Republicans alike.
"For instance, many members in both parties — including Democratic leadership in Congress — warned the Administration not to have the UN vote on this agreement before the American people and the Congress they elected had a chance to weigh in first. There was no reason to seek UN approval first, but the Administration ignored Democrats and ignored Republicans and did so anyway: why?
They need to explain.
"Is this deal really about keeping America, the region, and the world safer, or is it simply a compendium of whatever Iran will allow — an agreement struck to temporarily take a difficult strategic threat off the table, but one that might actually empower the Iranian regime and make war more likely?"
In the News:
This morning Jennifer Rubin of the The Washington Time identified the existence of Secret Annexes to the Iranian Deal not made public to Congress. The Times reports, "In a written statement released by two prominent Republicans yesterday, we learned:
"Under the terms of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, the clock does not start running on Congress’s 60 days to review the deal until all the agreement “and all related materials and annexes” associated with the deal are turned over. A central purpose of the bill, as its co-sponsors often declared, was to ensure that Congress got the entire deal. Without the bill, the president — just as he is attempting to do now — would never be compelled to reveal what he had promised the Iranians. A summary of the bill stated, “The bill requires the president to submit to Congress the agreement and all related documents, including specifics on verification and compliance. This ensures Congress will get to see the entire deal and make an independent judgment on its merits.” On the floor of the Senate on May 11, Corker urged his colleagues to pass the bill, stating unambiguously that “it ensures transparency. The bill requires the president to submit to Congress the text and all details of any nuclear agreement with Iran, if one is reached.” The president signed off and now appears poised to ignore it." . . .
"The United Nations signed off on the deal before Congress has had a chance to vote — and even before Congress knows what is in the deal. If members of Congress were enraged about trying to cut out Congress by racing to the UN first, one can only imagine the reaction if they are asked to vote on a deal which Russia and China have full knowledge of but they do not. . . .
"Pompeo, a West Point graduate and Army veteran, declared, “Not only does this violate the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, it is asking Congress to agree to a deal that it cannot review.” Cotton, a veteran of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, likewise objected, “Congress’s evaluation of this deal must be based on hard facts and full information. That we are only now discovering that parts of this dangerous agreement are being kept secret begs the question of what other elements may also be secret and entirely free from public scrutiny.
"In the absence of full disclosure, those Democrats who have said they would need to look through the agreement carefully to satisfy themselves the deal does what the president claims would be forced to vote down the deal for no other reason than they don’t know what is in it. It is moreover not coincidental, I suggest, that the two missing pieces concern the two potentially fatal flaws in the deal.
"Access to military sites such as Parchin is not addressed in the deal. . . . Yesterday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif claimed the deal allows Iran to keep its military sites off limits. Iran’s defense minister has said the same. If the annex is not revealed on this subject, Congress must assume the Iranians have it right. If so, the entire deal is a giant fraud. Anything can become a “military site” in a totalitarian state such as Iran and hence virtually anything can be kept from inspectors’ eyes. . . ."
Jennifer Rubin rightly concludes the article, "In sum, refusal to release these two annexes would be a direct and indefensible violation of the law President Obama signed. Moreover, because of the centrality of the two issues to evaluating the deal, without them Congress has no choice but to reject it. On this, a veto-proof majority in both houses is almost certain to agree."
The New York Times reports today, “The Obama administration’s claim that the Iran nuclear accord provides for airtight verification procedures is coming under challenge from nuclear experts with long experience in monitoring Tehran’s program.
“Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz has insisted that Iran would not be able to hide traces of illicit nuclear work before inspectors gained access to a suspicious site. But several experts, including a former high-ranking official at the International Atomic Energy Agency, said a provision that gives Iran up to 24 days to grant access to inspectors might enable it to escape detection.
“Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director of the agency, said in an interview that while ‘it is clear that a facility of sizable scale cannot simply be erased in three weeks’ time without leaving traces,’ the more likely risk is that the Iranians would pursue smaller-scale but still important nuclear work, such as manufacturing uranium components for a nuclear weapon.
“‘A 24-day adjudicated timeline reduces detection probabilities exactly where the system is weakest: detecting undeclared facilities and materials,’ he said.
“David Albright, the president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former weapons inspector in Iraq, also said that three weeks might be ample time for the Iranians to dispose of the evidence of prohibited nuclear work. Among the possibilities, he said, were experiments with high explosives that could be used to trigger a nuclear weapon, or the construction of a small plant to make centrifuges.
“‘If it is on a small scale, they may be able to clear it out in 24 days,’ Mr. Albright said in a telephone interview. ‘They are practiced at cheating. You can’t count on them to make a mistake.’ . . .
“Mr. Heinonen . . . said there had been cases in which Iran successfully hid evidence of illicit nuclear work even when nuclear enrichment was involved.
“When the atomic energy agency sought to inspect the Kalaye Electric Company site in Iran in 2003 to check whether the Iranians were using centrifuges that they had obtained from Pakistan, the Iranians kept inspectors at bay while they spent weeks removing the equipment and renovating the building where it had been kept.
“‘Certain parts of the installation were renovated, leaving no trace of enrichment activities that had taken place,’ Mr. Heinonen said. ‘However, nonrenovated parts had uranium in the 2003 contamination, which raised concerns.’
“As impressive as the Iranians’ efforts at concealment were then, Mr. Heinonen said they would be better prepared to remove the evidence of illicit work if they decided to cheat on the accord. ‘There will likely be plans to be executed promptly to avoid getting caught,’ he said.”
Meanwhile, the Iranians keep rejecting any changes to their prior behavior in the wake of this deal, assuring the world they will keep on arming terror groups and rogue regimes.
According to Reuters, “Iran will not accept any extension of sanctions beyond 10 years, an official said on Wednesday . . . . Abbas Araqchi, one of several deputy foreign ministers, also told a news conference Iran would do ‘anything’ to help allies in the Middle East, underlining Tehran's message that despite the deal Iran will not change its anti-Western foreign policy. . . .
“Araqchi, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator, told the televised conference that any attempt to re-impose sanctions after they expired in 10 years would breach the deal.
“He was referring to a resolution endorsing the deal passed by the U.N. Security Council on Monday. The resolution allows all U.N. sanctions to be re-imposed if Iran violates the agreement in the next 10 years. If Iran adheres to the terms of the agreement, all the provisions and measures of the U.N. resolution would end in 10 years.
“However, the six world powers, known as the P5+1, and the European Union told U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month that after 10 years they planned to seek a five-year extension of the mechanism allowing sanctions to be re-imposed.
“Araqchi challenged this move, saying: ‘Our priority is our national interests, not UN Security Council's resolutions.’ ‘The U.N. Security Council’s resolution says clearly that the timeframe of agreement is 10 years, and Iran’s case will be closed in the Security Council after that,’ Araqchi said. ‘If the U.S. and any other member of P5+1 say they want to adopt a new resolution after 10 years allowing sanctions to be re-imposed, it is the breach of Vienna agreement and has no credibility.’
“Iran's foreign ministry said shortly after the passage of the resolution on Monday that the nuclear deal did not mean Tehran accepted ‘sanctions and restrictions imposed by the UNSC, the U.S., the E.U. or member countries.’
“On Monday, Araqchi told national television: ‘Whenever it's needed to send arms to our allies in the region, we will do so. We are not ashamed of it.’”
Looking into the fine print of the deal, The Wall Street Journal editors discuss another troubling provision that’s come to light: “Debate over President Obama’s Iran deal has focused on such bold-face provisions as sanctions relief and inspections. But as we inspect the fine print, we are also learning more about Iran’s real nuclear priorities—along with the Administration’s willingness to accept them. Start with Fereidoun Abbasi-Davani and Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, both Iranian nuclear scientists.
“Mr. Abbasi was previously head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization after surviving an assassination attempt in Tehran. Mr. Abbasi, who is also a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, had been under U.N. sanctions for his suspected role in Iran’s ‘nuclear or ballistic missile activities.’ In 2012 Mr. Abbasi admitted to lying about Iran’s nuclear program. “Sometimes we pretended to be weaker than we really were,” he told the Al-Hayat newspaper, “and sometimes we showed strength that was not really in our hands.”
“Mr. Fakhrizadeh is often described as Iran’s Robert Oppenheimer, the developer of the world’s first atomic bombs, and not because of the Iranian’s latent pacifist convictions. His name came to light about a decade ago as the elusive head of Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, widely believed to be the group conducting Iran’s nuclear-weaponization work. In 2012 the Journal’s Jay Solomon reported that, after lying low for a few years, Mr. Fakhrizadeh had ‘opened a research facility in Tehran’s northern suburbs involved in studies relevant to developing nuclear weapons.’
“So what are Messrs. Abbasi and Fakhrizadeh doing these days? That’s a great question, to which the U.S. might want some definite answers before signing up to the Iran deal. Instead, both their names—along with that of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research—appear in the deal’s annex of individuals and organizations on whom sanctions will be lifted in roughly eight years, supposedly once Iran is given a clean bill of nuclear health.”
They conclude, “Maybe Tehran is looking out for its own. Much harder to explain, or justify, is why the Obama Administration would be willing to forgive egregious nuclear proliferators in the name of nuclear non-proliferation. As for Iran, if its goal in agreeing to the deal is to improve its economy and prove its nuclear good intentions, it would not be demanding sanctions relief for its top nuclear scientists and an illicit foreign supplier.”
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Congressman Mike Pompeo is a United States Military Academy at West Point graduate and Army veteran. He serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Senator Tom Cotton is an Army veteran having served tours in the Iraq War and Afghanistan War and serves on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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