The U.S. Senate is set to claim some say over a pending nuclear deal with Iran after striking a bipartisan compromise Tuesday.
Backed by both of Georgia’s Republican U.S. senators, the Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved a measure to allow Congress to review and possibly reject a final nuclear deal. But blocking the deal ultimately would require a two-thirds majority to overcome a presidential veto.
“This puts Congress in its rightful role,” said committee Chairman Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who struck the deal with Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, a Georgia Republican, said he did not feel the deal cedes too much power to President Barack Obama when “it’s a hell of a lot less power than he was trying to cede by himself.”
After lobbying heavily against the Corker bill, the White House reversed course and announced that Obama would sign it, as it was picking up possibly veto-proof Democratic support. Democrats said the bill would not derail the ongoing negotiations with Iran while giving Congress a role to play.
Some demands denied
“This bill is clearly a process bill for us to review the agreement,” Cardin said. “It’s not on the merits of the agreement.“
This month, Obama announced that Iran and six nations, including the U.S., had agreed to the outline of a deal to curtail Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. The details are to be worked out by June 30.
Only Congress can repeal the sanctions it passed into law, but the Obama administration hopes to roll them back unilaterally if it strikes a nuclear deal.
The Senate compromise ditched a Republican-desired requirement that the administration certify Iran does not support terrorist acts against Americans and also shortened the window for Congress to act in the event of a final deal. It headed off a charge from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who just announced a campaign for president, to require that the Iran government recognize Israel as a condition for a deal, as well as a push from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to treat the nuclear agreement like a treaty — requiring 67 Senate votes to be ratified.
More information ‘than ever before’
One of Corker’s big selling points in his deal was the requirement that if a final nuclear deal does go through, the administration must certify to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying.
“This is going to be far more information than we ever had before,” Isakson said. “And if the Iranians are not honorable — which is probably going to happen at some point in time — you’ve got documentable evidence and disclosure, and you’ve got a good inspection regimen.”
That’s not to be mistaken for GOP support for the deal itself.
Secretary of State John Kerry and other Cabinet officials briefed senators on the emerging deal Tuesday in a closed session attended by both Isakson and Sen. David Perdue.
Georgia senators still wary
Both of Georgia’s senators have been critical of the negotiations for some time. Perdue met with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his first foreign trip as a senator, before Netanyahu aired his concerns about the Iran deal to a joint session of Congress.
In a video message to constituents Tuesday, Perdue warned that under the negotiated framework Iran will still be “poised to have a nuclear weapon at the end of 10 years.”
“It is critical to our national security and global security that the American people, through Congress, have final approval on any deal with Iran,” Perdue added.
“Before any sanctions are lifted, we need to be absolutely certain that Iran will never be able to overtly or covertly develop or procure nuclear weapons,” he said. “Not now. Not in 10 years. Not ever.”
Isakson seeks compensation for Iran hostages
Obama has said the deal presents the best opportunity for the U.S. to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power by allowing extensive inspections and scaling back some of its nuclear programs.
Another motivation for Democrats to sign on to the bill — even if they like the Iran deal — was to provide a sturdy framework for Congress to register its approval or disapproval, and only after there is a potential final deal. Otherwise, Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said he foresaw a “messy process” in which Republicans would try to attach language striking back at the Iran deal to spending bills.
Isakson inserted language into Tuesday's compromise calling on the Obama administration to compensate the American hostages held by Iran for 444 days from 1979 to 1981, in line with legislation he's pushed for years. Isakson backed off an amendment requiring the payments, and he said he hoped Corker would bring up his stand-alone bill soon.
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