While Congress readies a bill mandating that the president submit the text of the Iran agreement to the legislature and prohibiting the suspension of congressional sanctions for 60 days, Sen. Barbara Boxer has called for a delay, saying the vote could undermine negotiations.
"To force Congress to weigh in now on the Iran nuclear talks before a final deal has been completed would be a reckless rush to judgment. It would undermine negotiations at a critical moment and could derail a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deal with this looming threat,"
wrote the California Democrat in a letter sent Wednesday to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker.
If Corker, R-Tennessee, does not delay the hearings on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, Boxer said she would file an amendment
urging a delay of the vote until a final agreement is reached.
"The Committee has the right and obligation to hold hearings and debate the framework, but it would simply be irresponsible to vote on legislation before we have seen the final terms of a deal," she concluded.
Boxer, who has announced she will not seek another Senate term,
offered an alternative to Corker's bill that would require the administration to update Congress in three months. But her measure would not demand a congressional vote on a final deal, which must be reached before a June 30 deadline.
Her assertion that putting the Iran deal before Congress for an up-or-down vote would undermine negotiations echoed assertions made Monday by
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest that Republicans are proposing "a vote like this because they oppose the deal in the first place" and are "trying to use this vote as cover to try to undermine the agreement."
Earnest was forced to acknowledge, however, that it was not only Republicans who are demanding a vote on a final deal.
Shortly before the White House briefing, New York Democrat Charles Schumer announced that he believed Congress has the "right to disapprove" of any deals and, therefore, would support Corker's bill.
"This is a very serious issue that deserves careful consideration, and I expect to have a classified briefing in the near future. I strongly believe Congress should have the right to disapprove any agreement and I support the Corker bill which would allow that to occur," Schumer said in an
emailed statement to Politico.
As next Tuesday's hearing approaches, momentum seems to be moving behind Corker and Schumer, which is one reason why President Barack Obama called the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee seeking a compromise,
reports The Wall Street Journal.
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