Senate Panel Passes Bill on Iran Nuclear Deal; Obama Indicates He'll Sign It - New York Times

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Corker and Cardin on Compromise Bill

Corker and Cardin on Compromise Bill

Senator Bob Corker, of of the Foreign Relations Committee, discussed a bill that would allow Congress to vote on the nuclear deal being negotiated with Iran.

By AP on Publish Date April 14, 2015. Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times.

WASHINGTON — The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved legislation granting Congress a voice in negotiations on the Iran nuclear accord, sending the once-controversial legislation to the full Senate after President Obama withdrew his opposition rather than face a bipartisan rebuke.

Republican opponents of the nuclear agreement on the committee sided with Mr. Obama’s strongest Democratic supporters in demanding a congressional role as international negotiators work to turn this month’s nuclear framework into a final deal by June 30. The bill would mandate that the administration send the text of a final accord, along with classified material, to Congress as soon as it it completed. It also halts any lifting of sanctions during a congressional review and culminates in a possible vote to allow or forbid the lifting of congressionally imposed sanctions in exchange for the dismantling of much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. It passed 19 to 0.

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”We’re involved here. We have to be involved here. Only Congress can change or permanently modify the sanctions regime,” said Senator Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, the committee’s ranking Democrat, who served as a bridge between the White House and Republicans as they negotiated changes in the days before Tuesday’s vote.

Photo

Mr. Kerry left a classified briefing with senators at the Capitol. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

While Mr. Obama was not “particularly thrilled” with the bill, said Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, the president decided the new proposal put together by the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was acceptable.

“What we have made clear to Democrats and Republicans in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is that the president would be willing to sign the proposed compromise that is working its way through the committee today,” Mr. Earnest told reporters.

The compromise between Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Mr. Cardin would shorten a review period for a final Iran nuclear deal and soften language that would make the lifting of sanctions dependent on Iran ending its support for terrorism.

The agreement almost certainly means Congress — over the White House’s stern objections — will muscle its way into nuclear negotiations that Mr. Obama sees as a legacy-defining foreign policy achievement. One senior Democratic aide said the bill would have overwhelming, veto-proof support in the full Senate.

With passage certain, White House officials insisted the president only changed his position because of substantial changes to the bill itself. Mr. Corker called that spin, saying the president switched sides in the face of a steamroller.

“This is a really sound piece of legislation,” Mr. Corker said. “I’m very proud of it and it’s my hope that it passes overwhelmingly.”

With committee passage, the Senate would most likely approve it this month. Republican leaders in the House promised swift action on the Senate bill.

“Congress absolutely should have the opportunity to review this deal,” House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio said Tuesday. “We shouldn’t just count on the administration, who appears to want a deal at any cost.”

Assuming White House concerns remain addressed in the version passed by the committee, Mr. Earnest said, “We’ve gone from a piece of legislation that the president would veto to a piece of legislation that’s undergone substantial revision such that it’s now in the form of a compromise that the president is willing to sign. That would certainly be an improvement.”

He added, “We’re asking for a commitment that people will pursue the process that’s contemplated in this bill,” he said.

Some Democrats said Republicans could still upset the delicate compromise, but important lawmakers appeared ready to accept the deal as it.

Mr. Earnest said the compromise addressed some of the objections that the president raised to the original version by shortening the review period and softening the terrorism provision.

Moreover, rather than calling for a decision on the overall agreement, the modified bill now essentially sets up a future vote on lifting congressionally imposed sanctions, something the White House has always acknowledged would be needed, Mr. Earnest said. “The compromise would set up a vote to vote later on those specific congressional sanctions,” he said. “It would not be an up-or-down vote on the deal.”

Correction: April 14, 2015

An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of the Secretary of Energy. He is Ernest Moniz, not Earnest.

Emmarie Huetteman contributed reporting.

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