A new poll shows that 71% of Americans do not think that President Obama’s deal will deter the production of Iranian nuclear weapons. This, as GOP senators send a letter straight to the Iranian regime, prompting a backlash from the Obama Administration. Below, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) discusses why he signed on to the letter in an interview with Newsmax TV.
AP: GOP tries to undercut nuclear deal with warning to Iran
Republican lawmakers warned the leaders of Iran on Monday that any nuclear deal they cut with President Barack Obama could expire the day he leaves office. The White House denounced the GOP’s latest effort to undercut the international negotiations as a “rush to war.”
The letter was written by freshman Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, who opposes negotiations with Iran. It’s addressed to the “Leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and presents itself as a constitutional primer to the government of an American adversary. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky’s signature is on it, as are those of several prospective presidential candidates.
Explaining the difference between a Senate-ratified treaty and a mere agreement between Obama and Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the senators warned: “The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen, and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.”
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) signed on to the letter, and discussed the issue with NewsmaxTV in the below interview:
National Review’s Jim Geraghty offered this in his Morning Jolt e-newsletter on Tuesday:
Democrats contend that letter amounts to “sabotaging the negotiations.” Hey, it’s just facts, guys.
President Obama knows full well he’s pursuing a deal without the support of Congress. Congressional Republicans believe Obama and Kerry are pursuing his own interest of polishing his legacy, and the Iranians are pursuing their interest of preserving their nuclear program and rapid “breakout capability” to build a nuclear weapon. Nobody in the negotiations is adamantly attempting to keep Iran as far from a nuclear weapon as possible; everybody’s eager to get to the glamorous historic photo-op in Geneva.
Unsurprisingly, the American people are more appropriately skeptical of the Iranian regime.
In other news from Capitol Hill…
The Hill: Bipartisan bill would expand VA Agent Orange coverage
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) have introduced legislation that would extend Veterans Affairs Department benefits to “blue water” Vietnam-era veterans exposed to Agent Orange.
Vietnam War veterans who served at sea are currently denied VA disability and health benefits for illnesses caused by Agent Orange. Exposure to the chemical can cause a range of diseases, including cancer.
J. C. Kantorowicz – Great Falls
Thursday, March 12, 2015 6:38 AM
Well, let’s see now….. Daines broke the law? And Obama hasn’t?
Daines and his fellow Senators are guilty of overreach? Obama’s trampling of the Constitution, ignoring the will of the American people and Congress is not an overreach?
Cotton has limited military experience and is not a foreign policy expert? You can’t be serious! Obama with ZERO military experience, ZERO executive experience and ZERO foreign policy experience (unless you call his BRITISH CITIZEN father at the time of his birth…… whom he never met) to be “foreign policy experience”!
Sheesh…..