On the other side is the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which is spending millions of dollars on ads to convince lawmakers that Iran can’t be trusted and the deal should be scuttled.
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Congress is expected to vote on the Iran deal sometime in September. “Once implemented, it will therefore remove a critical element of risk and uncertainty from the region”, Carter said during his opening statements.
Dempsey said he will continue to provide President Barack Obama with military options and will advise against reducing the U.S. military’s presence in the Middle East.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has warned members of Congress that walking away from the nuclear deal reached with Iran would mean giving Tehran a “green light” to return to its enrichment efforts.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz stumbled over his words in response and said he had not yet seen the documents.
He added: “I can tell you that we have a range of options and I always present them”.
At the same time, Schultz refused to say he was certain that the administration had the votes it needs.
“And I say to you, I hope the Iranians love their children too”, he sings. On Wednesday, some lawmakers said that assessment still stands.
Tension rose Tuesday during a packed hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“We flew in this morning from Miami”, Stephen Fiske, one of hundreds of AIPAC activists in Washington this week, said as he headed toward a lawmaker’s office. “The deal certainly creates incentives and disincentives for Iran that should limit its desire to build nuclear weapons, and my view is that the deal is more likely to ensure that Iran’s program is focused on nuclear energy than nuclear weapons than would a simple continuation of the sanctions regime in place”, he said.
“He (Obama) asked for the meeting”.
When pressed by legislators in congressional hearings, Kerry has insisted that the United States can not access these agreements.
On Wednesday, about 100 House Democrats went to the White House, where Obama spoke about the agreement for about 30 minutes in the East Room.
Nadler, who is Jewish, said he hasn’t decided.
“Let me underscore – the alternative to the deal we’ve reached isn’t a better deal – some sort of unicorn arrangement involving Iran’s complete capitulation”.
Calling the negotiations a “diplomatic masterpiece”, Pelosi said the deal review is “probably one of the most important endeavours that members may be engaged in”. They’ve also enlisted foreign policy experts and former government officials.
US Republican presidential candidate Sen. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has cultivated a close relationship with Republicans, has called it a threat to his country’s survival.
The White House has attempted to put critics of the deal on defense.
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has criticized the accord, reiterated his demand that the Obama administration turn over documents related to agreements between the IAEA and Iran that he described as “side agreements”.
