WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Tuesday that the panel had reached an accord on a bipartisan bill giving Congress a vote on an international deal to rein in Iran’s nuclear program.
The compromise measure would shorten a review period for a final deal and soften language that would make the lifting of sanctions dependent on Iran’s ending support for terrorism.
The agreement, struck between Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee’s chairman, and Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, its ranking Democrat, still must be voted on this afternoon, but leaders in both parties expressed their support. One senior Democratic aide said the bill would now have overwhelming, veto-proof support in the full Senate.
Under the agreement, an initial 60-day review period of a final nuclear agreement was in effect cut in half, to 30 days. But the review period would also include the maximum 12 days the president would have to decide whether to accept or veto a resolution of disapproval, should Congress take that vote. It would also include a maximum of 10 days Congress would have to override the veto.
Mr. Corker also agreed to a significant change on the terrorism language. Initially, the bill said that the president would have to certify every 90 days that Iran no longer was supporting terrorism against Americans at home or abroad. If he could not, economic sanctions would be reimposed. Under the agreement, the president will still have to send periodic reports to Congress on Iran’s activities regarding ballistic missiles and terrorism, but those reports could not set off another imposition of sanctions lifted as part of the nuclear deal.
The White House has said for weeks that President Obama will veto the legislation. But Senate Democrats expressed hope that an overwhelming vote in the committee Tuesday would force a reconsideration. If not, Democrats said, they are prepared to hand the president his first veto override, an embarrassing rebuke, as long as the Corker-Cardin deal holds.
There are still potential hurdles. Senate Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, plans to introduce an amendment making the Iran deal dependent on Iran’s recognition of the State of Israel. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, would make the final Iran accord — due by June 30 — a formal international treaty, subject to a two-thirds vote of ratification by the Senate.
To temper opposition, Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew and Secretary of Energy Earnest Moniz gathered with senators Tuesday morning in a classified briefing. A similar briefing was held for the House on Monday. The administration has found itself swimming against a bipartisan tide of lawmakers insistent that Congress have a role in any international accord that involves lifting sanctions that Congress imposed.
Loading...
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1H3PGwS
0 comments:
Post a Comment