“This will be my name on it”, the President said.
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Obama gained ground on some other fronts amid an aggressive White House lobbying effort. Bob Menendez announced that he will vote against Obama’s Iran deal.
“I have spent countless hours in secure briefings, Foreign Relations Committee hearings, and quiet study and reflection”. But he added that he thought his ideas might help bridge the partisan gap on the issue and get support from the political center.
The senator, who traditionally has held hard line positions against Iran, Russia, Cuba and Venezuela, among others, said the accord gives the Middle Eastern nation too much leeway and contains worrisome loopholes. “Hope is part of human nature, but unfortunately it is not a national security strategy”. A House whip count also from The Hill shows 13 Democrats voting or leaning towards voting “No”.
“U.S. sanctions while powerful are not crippling and we only were able to bring Iran to the table when it was U.S. plus European Union plus China plus Russian Federation and we don’t have their support to go back to the negotiating table”, Gillibrand said.
The US now restricts nearly all exports of its oil under policies enacted in the wake of the Arab oil embargoes of the 1970s. “Not shrink its infrastructure”, Menendez said. And secondly, I think that we can have considered judgment and disagreement. “He has tried to squelch opposition to the deal“, Dershowitz said. “It failed to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state at a time of its choosing”.
As the September 17 deadline for Congress to approve or disapprove of the nuclear agreement looms ever closer, more and more Senators are making that critical decision. So far around 55 have publicly declared their support; Pelosi declined to say how many others have said so in private. The White House also failed to win over Arizona Sen. But the math here is on his side – and is quite punishing for the deal’s opponents.
Hayden acknowledged his proposal was still in the early planning stages.
Despite Senator Robert Menendez joining a congressional chorus of disapproval of the pact, Senate Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell conceded that Obama likely had the votes to ensure its survival.
Obama needs support from 34 of the 46 members of the Democratic caucus to sustain a veto, and 23 have already announced they are backing him. Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi of California has spoken confidently about rounding up the votes to save the deal.
Under the negotiated deal, the United States and five world powers agreed to relieve Iran of its nuclear-related sanctions, unfreezing what experts estimate to be more than $100 billion in assets.
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“The president wants deal ambiguity”. Who fixed the system so adroitly that Republicans in firm control of both the House and Senate are free to fulminate and fuss about the deal, playing to their base and depicting it as everything but an act of outright treachery, all while basically guaranteeing that the deal would be approved anyway?
