Brushing off criticism from a majority in Congress, President Barack Obama said Republicans are reflexively opposing the nuclear deal with Iran because his name is attached to it, as he continued his campaign to build support for the controversial deal.
Advertisement
In response to another question, Earnest said that he was not aware of any planned visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the White House in conjunction with his travel to the United States for the UN General Assembly next month. That will require a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
“In the Senate, during the three-and-a-half years that Senator Obama has been a member, he has not reached across party lines to get accomplish anything significant, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest groups in the Democratic Party to get something done”. “I think that I can show that the basic assumptions that he’s made are incorrect”.
Congress members will begin debating whether to reject the deal when they return from their summer break on September 8th.
“Iran must never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon, and that is why I support this agreement“, Schatz said. But he conceded that he “wouldn’t be surprised” if Democrats considered “the voting record of those who would like to lead the caucus” when choosing their next leader.
The president’s efforts to rally round Democrats suffered to a setback last week when influential Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer announced his decision to oppose the deal.
Mr. Obama said in the CNN interview that McConnell and other Republicans “jumped out and opposed [the deal] before they even read it”.
Republican lawmakers largely disagree with the president’s assessment that the deal blocks Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, as do some of Obama’s own Democratic colleagues. “This is our next Senate leader?”
Mr Obama has promised a veto if the resolution is passed by the House and Senate.
Schumer’s opposition was first reported by the Huffington Post. “It is because I believe Iran will not change, and under this agreement it will be able to achieve its dual goals of eliminating sanctions while ultimately retaining its nuclear and non-nuclear power”.
Obama says resolving the Iranian nuclear issue makes it possible to open broader talks with Iran on other issues.
Advertisement
The decision by one of the top Democrats in the US Senate to oppose the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers was “disappointing but not surprising”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said yesterday. Chuck Schumer of New York came out in opposition to the nuclear deal late that evening.
