Reid, who is not seeking reelection in 2016, is now the 27th Senate Democrat publicly endorsing the deal. Reid said in a news release on Sunday, August 23, 2015, that he’s throwing his full support behind President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. Only two Democratic senators, Chuck Schumer and Bob Menendez, have come out in opposition so far.
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Reid’s spokesman Adam Jentleson tweeted that Reid spoke to reporters and said, “I expect another couple of votes coming out in the next few days” in favor of the deal.
The “imminent threat of Iran having a nuclear weapon” outweighs any flaws in the global agreement, said Stabenow of Michigan, the 28th Senate Democrat to back the deal, reports KSL.com.
“We’ve been leaders in nonproliferation, which is part of the reason why I am so insistent that Congress not block a historic diplomatic effort when it comes to making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon”, the president said at a fundraiser Monday night in Henderson, Nev.
As for whether Republicans who control Congress and unanimously oppose the deal could thwart such a filibuster, Corker said: “I don’t know, I don’t know“. “It’s based on strict inspections and verification coupled with the fact that America keeps all of our current options, including military action, if Iran in any way continues down the path of creating a nuclear weapon”.
Obama praised Reid, crediting the top Senate Democrat as essential to the accomplishments of his presidency.
Even the controversial 1978 treaty, under which control of the Panama Canal reverted to Panama, passed the Senate by a two-thirds majority with support from senators of both parties.
Paula Clayton Dempsey of the Alliance of Baptists and American Baptist Churches USA head Roy Medley were among 51 U.S. Christian leaders asking members of Congress to support the negotiated nuclear deal with Iran.
Obama faces a Republican-led Congress set on blocking his agenda. That means the president needs at least 34 senators and 146 House lawmakers to vote against overriding his veto in order for it to be sustained.
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The Democratic minority leader in the House, Nancy Pelosi of California, says she already has the votes necessary to sustain a veto should Obama be required to exercise that power. But of those who have taken a position, 16 Democrats have said they will not support the agreement. “That is not a real option and we should not pretend that it is”.
