Republican Tom Cotton of Arkansas was the only member of the U.S. Senate to vote against a bill giving Congress the opportunity to review, and possibly reject any final nuclear deal with Iran. He contends any agreement should be handled as a treaty, which requires a two-thirds vote.
Thursday’s vote was 98-1 and follows months of wrangling over the legislation while the U.S. and five other nations negotiated with Iran.
The bipartisan agreement was reached without many of the proposed amendments that some Republicans wanted, including one backed by Cotton which would have placed additional requirements on Iran.
In a written statement, Sen. Cotton said:
A nuclear-arms agreement with any adversary—especially the terror-sponsoring, Islamist Iranian regime—should be submitted as a treaty and obtain a two-thirds majority vote in the Senate as required by the Constitution. President Obama wants to reverse this rule, requiring opponents to get a two-thirds vote to stop his dangerous deal. But Congress should not accept this usurpation, nor allow the president any grounds to claim that Congress blessed his nuclear deal. I will work with Republicans and Democrats to stop a dangerous deal that would put Iran on the path to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
In March, the freshman senator drew international attention when he penned an open later to Iran, signed by 46 other Senate Republicans, warning that Congress could undo any nuclear deal that was reached by the Obama administration.
The legislation passed Thursday would block President Barack Obama from waiving congressional sanctions against Iran for at least 30 days while lawmakers review any final nuclear deal. If senators disapproved of any deal, Obama would lose his power to waive certain economic penalties Congress has imposed on Iran.
Sen. John Boozman, Arkansas’s senior Senator, voted for the bill, saying it ensures any deal with Iran will be "verifiable, enforceable and accountable." In a statement, he said:
While I understand my colleagues desire to strengthen the bill, and was supportive of some of their efforts, Congress cannot simply walk away without having a say in this vital national security matter that has been negotiated behind closed doors. Without this bill, there will be no review of the Iran deal. There would be nothing stopping President Obama from signing a bad agreement with Iran. There would be no limitation on the President’s ability to waive sanctions and it would be much more difficult for Congress to reinstate sanctions should Iran fail to live up to its end of the bargain. It was sanctions that brought the Iranians to the table in the first place. If they are unilaterally removed, the Iranians will have no reason to carry out their commitments.
Material from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
