Boomerang: Democrats say they would delay vote on Iran sanctions bill

The bipartisan approach, however, collapsed in the face of what Democrats saw as a clumsy politicization of the issue by Speaker John Boehner, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer.

Dermer, a former Republican political consultant, suggested to Boehner the idea of inviting Netanyahu to speak in Congress against the president’s Iran policies, and in favor of the Kirk-Menendez bill. The speech, they believed, would have three benefits: it would help the Kirk-Menendez bill; it would help Netanyahu in the 17 March elections in Israel – where polls show he is trailing the center-left Labor Party-led camp; and it would snub president Obama and show him disrespect, something Netanyahu and key members of his cabinet, chief among them Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, appear always all too eager to do.

The process of the invitation was not less problematic than the invitation itself: In an unprecedented break with protocol, Boehner and Dermer did not bother to consult with, or even inform, the White House or the Department of State that a foreign head of state was invited to speak before Congress.

The appearance of using of the Iranian nuclear issue for political purposes was too much for the Senate Democrats who supported the Kirk-Menendez bill, and yesterday they announced that they would not bring it to a vote until after the current round of negotiations with Iran ends at the end of March.

Roll Call reports that Senator Charles Schumer (D-New York), the No. 3 Democrat in the Senate, bill-sponsor Menendez, and eight other Democrats yesterday wrote Obama, committing themselves not to vote for the sanctions bill before 24 March.

The postponement gives the P5+1 negotiators the additional time they wanted to examine Iran’s intentions, but keeps the threat of additional sanctions on Iran – threat that has been in the air all along anyway — if Iran fails to reach a verifiable deal that guarantees it will not develop nuclear weapons.

Obama has announced on several occasions that if the bill was passed, he would veto it.

Here is the Senators’ letter in full:

Dear Mr. President:

We remain hopeful that diplomacy will succeed in reversing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability, in accordance with the timeline that the P5+1 and Iran negotiating teams have set for themselves: March 24, 2015 for a political framework agreement and June 30, 2015 to conclude negotiations on the technical annexes of the comprehensive deal.

Congress has always been a partner in the shared goal of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon capability. We remain appreciative of your leadership in seeking to protect the United States, and our allies and partners, from the threat of a nuclear Iran. For more than two decades, the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. Government have worked together in a bipartisan way to implement sanctions legislation that successfully ratcheted up pressure on Iran’s nuclear program. This pressure proved to be decisive in compelling Iranian leadership to enter the latest round of nuclear negotiations in September 2013.

We remain deeply skeptical that Iran is committed to making the concessions required to demonstrate to the world that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful by March 24 – the deadline agreed upon for a political framework agreement. Considering Iran’s history in nuclear negotiations and after two extensions of the Joint Plan of Action, we are concerned that Iran is intentionally extending the negotiations to improve its leverage at the negotiating table.

We are Democratic supporters of the Iran Nuclear Weapon Free Act of 2015 – a bill that would impose sanctions on Iran only if Iran fails to reach a comprehensive agreement by the June 30 deadline. This bill also includes monthly waivers after June 30 to provide additional negotiating flexibility. We believe that this bill, as introduced, is reasonable and pragmatic, respects the nuclear negotiating timeline, and sends a strong signal to Iran and to the international community that endless negotiations under the interim agreement are dangerous, unacceptable, and could leave Iran with a threshold nuclear weapon capability.

In acknowledgement of your concern regarding congressional action on legislation at this moment, we will not vote for this legislation on the Senate floor before March 24. After March 24, we will only vote for this legislation on the Senate floor if Iran fails to reach agreement on a political framework that addresses all parameters of a comprehensive agreement. This deadline is the critical test of Iranian intentions. We expect that your Administration will consult closely with Members of Congress in the coming months, and look forward to working with you to achieve our shared goal of reversing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability.

Sincerely,

Robert Menendez (United States Senator, New Jersey)
Charles E. Schumer (United States Senator, New York)
Richard Blumenthal (United States Senator, Connecticut)
Gary C. Peters (United States Senator, Michigan)
Robert P. Casey, Jr. (United States Senator, Pennsylvania)
Benjamin L. Cardin (United States Senator, Maryland)
Christopher A. Coons (United States Senator, Delaware)
Joe Manchin III (United States Senator, West Virginia)
Joe Donnelly (United States Senator, Indiana)
Debbie Stabenow (United States Senator, Michigan)