During his State of the Union address, President Obama expressed his intention to veto any bill from Congress to impose additional sanctions on Iran and derail the diplomatic talks still going on:
Our diplomacy is at work with respect to Iran, where, for the first time in a decade, we've halted the progress of its nuclear program and reduced its stockpile of nuclear material. Between now and this spring, we have a chance to negotiate a comprehensive agreement that prevents a nuclear-armed Iran; secures America and our allies – including Israel; while avoiding yet another Middle East conflict. There are no guarantees that negotiations will succeed, and I keep all options on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran. But new sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails – alienating America from its allies; and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again. It doesn't make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress. The American people expect us to only go to war as a last resort, and I intend to stay true to that wisdom.
That, however, has not stopped Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ) from moving forward with their new
Iran sanctions bill in the Senate Banking Committee. The bill that would impose sanctions on Iran if no comprehensive agreement is reached by June 30.
Here were ranking Democrat Sherrod Brown (D-OH)'s opening remarks at the mark-up on Tuesday:
The President has said new sanctions legislation at this time would dramatically undermine the negotiations and our relations with our negotiating partners, and erode international support for multilateral sanctions. He has said he will veto the bill. Our negotiating partners have expressed similar strong opposition.
Mr. Chairman, I ask consent that statements by the President and Prime Minister Cameron, and the recent Washington Post op-ed from the EU Foreign Ministers and the EU High Representative be placed in the record.
This Committee should hear the arguments on all sides, probe them, and test them against our own knowledge and experience on the issues.
If Congress acts to force the President’s hand in the next few months by overriding his veto, and if doing so contributes to the collapse of negotiations and our heading down the path toward a military confrontation, Congress – beginning with each of us -- will be held responsible.
This Committee bears an unusually grave and historic responsibility to assess the full consequences of acting now. We should be especially careful to ensure a thorough process.
And we have the time to do so since no new sanctions would be applied for six months. In the meantime, existing sanctions will continue to bite, and bite hard.
I’ve supported the search for a diplomatic solution. Some predicted the JPOA would unravel the sanctions regime; it has not. Others worried Iran would not comply, or would benefit unduly from sanctions relief, or from new trade deals; none of that has proven true. There have been situations where we and Iran disagreed about whether certain things were allowed under the JPOA; they were litigated and resolved by Iran ceasing the activity.
I am not naïve about the likelihood of a final deal, but I think we must allow the President to test the prospects.
I urge the Chairman to step back and adopt the process usually used in this Committee, undertake some additional hearings and delay a markup and further action to see if a nuclear deal can be reached by the deadline.
The Senate Banking Committee, after adding several amendments to the original bill, voted to pass it and move it to the full Senate
18 to 4.
6 Democrats joined the Republicans on the Committee in voting for it:
Joe Donnelly (D-IN)
Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Chuck Schumer (D-NY)
Jon Tester (D-MT)
Mark Warner (D-VA)
They should be shamed for trying to derail the diplomatic process.
4 Democrats voted against it:
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Jack Reed (D-RI)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
They should be thanked for supporting the diplomatic process.