Referencing a line from the movie “Casablanca,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday said the controversy surrounding the open letter to Iran issued by 47 Republican senators has been overblown.
McConnell said there is plenty of historical precedent for senators to insert themselves into U.S. diplomatic affairs and inform foreign governments about Congress’ role in approving agreements with other nations. The Kentuckian said the uproar reminds him of the 1942 film, in which Claude Rains says of the nightclub where most of the action occurs, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”
“I think everybody in America’s seen the movie ‘Casablanca,’ ” McConnell told reporters during his weekly news conference. “Members of Congress speaking out in a variety of different ways during the pendency of extremely important events, both domestic and international, is about as unusual as gambling was in Casablanca.”
The open letter to Iran’s leaders was written by Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and publicized last Monday. It cautioned Tehran that any arms deal reached with President Obama would not be binding on future administrations unless it receives congressional approval. Critics of the letter said it undermined the Obama administration abroad and threatened to derail a deal with Iran that could be days away from being realized.
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., supports bipartisan legislation that would force Obama to seek Senate sign-off on any deal he reaches with the Ayatollah — legislation the president has vowed to veto. Nonetheless, said Schumer, “I thought the Iran letter was wrong.”
But Republican leaders brushed aside the criticism. Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the fifth-ranking Senate Republican leader, volunteered without being asked that he is happy he signed the letter because it helped clarify the debate about Obama’s potential deal with Iran. Most Republicans oppose an agreement because Obama has said it would include a sunset clause, after which Tehran could pursue nuclear weapons, among other reasons.
“A bad deal here is not better than no deal at all,” Blunt said. “I’m glad I signed that letter; I’m glad it got the attention it did. Nothing new in that letter, but certainly the attention to that letter called attention to what’s really going on.”
Added McConnell: “Let me just point out: Sen. [Robert] Byrd [D-W.Va.], when he was the majority leader during the pendency of the Salt II Treaty during the Cold War, flew to Moscow to explain to the Russians the Senate’s role in ratifying treaties.”
