Yesterday Senate Republicans, led by Lindsey Graham and Bob Corker, tried to force a vote on the Iran Nuclear Negotiations Act of 2014, which would re-impose sanctions on Iran waived during the negotiating process if the P5+1 fail to sign a deal by the November 24 deadline.
Congress wants oversight, said Graham, because Obama “wants a deal too badly.” Now, Graham continued, “is not the time to let President Obama go it alone” with Iran. Wrong, countered Democrat Chris Murphy. “It would send a message that Congress does not stand with the president as the negotiations continue,” said the Connecticut lawmaker.
That’s not far from the truth. Given the administration’s past performance with Iran, Congress has reason to be concerned about letting Obama go it alone. As I argue this week in THE WEEKLY STANDARD, the White House’s “record on Iran—not only during nuclear negotiations, but also in its larger regional policy—is nothing but a chronicle of concessions to the Islamic Republic.”
As the Center for Security Policy, a Washington, D.C.-based think-tank, lays out in a letter today heavily critical of the Obama administration’s conduct of Iran nuclear talks, the White House has:
Signatories of the letter, including former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, former National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave, former Assistant Secretary of State for Verification and Compliance Paula DeSutter, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense (Acting) Frank Gaffney, argue that:
Graham and Corker have the right idea—the American people, speaking through their elected representatives, deserve a say in their own national security.
