Kennedy, Cruz tell Biden they will block any Iran nuclear agreement not submitted for Senate approval
Feb 08 2022
WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and more than 30 other senators in committing to blocking any nuclear agreement with Iran that President Biden fails to submit to the Senate for approval.
“We write to call attention to a range of obligations that your administration is statutorily mandated to fulfill in relation to Congressional oversight over any such agreement, and to ensure that your officials know we are committed to providing availability, assistance, and resources so you can fully meet these mandates. We also write to emphasize that we are committed to using the full range of options and leverage available to United States Senators to ensure that you meet those obligations, and that the implementation of any agreement will be severely if not terminally hampered if you do not,” the senators wrote.
The senators explained that any agreement that would seriously curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions would be able to secure ratification with the Senate’s support. They further argued that any agreement that’s not officially ratified by the Senate as a treaty could easily be reversed in the opening days of the next presidential administration, potentially as early as January 2025.
“In the meantime, however, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 . . . mandates that your administration submit to Congress for evaluation, within 5 days after it is reached, any agreement related to the nuclear program with Iran, as well as all related documents and side deals. The submission of such materials then triggers a statutorily?defined review process, and includes the possibility of Congress blocking implementation of the agreement,” the senators continued.
The letter is available here.