WASHINGTON -- Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue spent his first congressional recess in Israel, returning with a newfound appreciation for the threats it faces -- chiefly from Iran.
Perdue met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a range of topics, but the big one was the ongoing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. In an interview Tuesday, Perdue criticized the apparent outline of a deal to halt the country's nuclear enrichment for 10 years:
"It's one of several things that have shifted the wrong way. Most of the negotiations that I've watched, most of the concessions have been on the part of the P5+1 [the five permanent U.N. security council members plus Germany] and not Iran. That gives me pause, and certainly about the term of this deal. They're in violation of the nonproliferation treaty -- that's a fact. But we just don't know what the deal is yet."
Perdue, who serves on the Foreign Relations Committee, said Congress should have the opportunity to review and suggest changes for any deal. He said Senate leaders have been wise not to say publicly what they will do if nuclear talks fail by the March deadline, but "I’ll assure you we’re prepared to move if we have to, if this doesn’t work."
Perdue declared that he and Netanyahu are "like minded" on the issue of Iran. He said he looks forward to Netanyahu's Washington visit next week and his address to Congress -- a move that went around a piqued White House and has some Democrats, including Atlanta's John Lewis, pledging not to attend.
The seven-day jaunt, Perdue said, was sponsored by the powerful pro-Israel lobby AIPAC -- which sends dozens of House members and senators to Israel each year. (A 2007 law prevents lobbyists from sponsoring trips for lawmakers, but AIPAC and other groups get around it by having spinoff nonprofits. In this case, it's called the American Israel Education Foundation.)
Perdue said he met with other Israeli officials but also one of the lead negotiators for the Palestinians as they work toward a two-state solution, "which is what everybody's hope is," Perdue said. In addition, he met an entrepreneur who built a solar energy panel installation in Brunswick.
Perdue looked down into Syria from the Golan Heights and talked with residents near the Gaza Strip who had been hit with mortars.
"It was a great trip, but one that really prepares me to add value to this Foreign Relations Committee," Perdue said.
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Perdue also weighed in on the funding impasse for the Department of Homeland Security. Perdue said he supports Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's strategy to hold a vote only to restrict President Barack Obama's latest immigration action, possibly separating it from the funding fight.
"One thing that is very clear: Democrats have been holding up this bill in the Senate, and that's the threat for the funding issue around the Department of Homeland Security. But the clear thing I believe on the Republican side and certainly on my position is: We cannot play around with funding national security."
Perdue said he was "encouraged" by the Texas court decision to halt Obama's most recent immigration actions and hopes it will hold up under appeal. When asked if Congress should simply fund DHS while the case plays out, Perdue replied:
"Well, I don't know. I'm not on the inside of their strategy, but it appears that could be the case, we just don't know. I would hope we could do that, frankly. That appears to me the professional way to approach it and get past this deadline."
Perdue did not explicitly endorse a clean DHS bill, and stressed that the Republican strategy remains in constant flux -- as Democrats have continued to filibuster consideration of a DHS funding bill that blocks Obama's immigration actions going back to 2012.
"I hope we can get to go ahead and fund it. I support funding our national security as an absolute must, and stopping the president's unlawful and really unconstitutional executive amnesty."
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