Posted on 07/16/2015 1:23:23 PM PDT by VinL
Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is moving to block future State Department funding and nominees unless President Barack Obama guarantees that Congress will have the authority to fully review a recently inked nuclear accord with Iran before the deal is approved by the United Nations, according to a copy of a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Cruz, a vocal opponent of the administration’s diplomacy with Iran, maintains that the White House is seeking to circumvent congressional review of the deal by going straight to the U.N.
Such a move could lift key sanctions on Iran before Congress has had the chance to fully review and vote on the deal.
Cruz says the United States should not be backing any U.N. action until Congress fulfills its legal role in reviewing—and potentially rejecting—the deal, which will provide Iran with billions of dollars in economic relief.
Under the parameters of the deal, the United States and other global powers have agreed to rollback U.N. restrictions on Iran’s importation of weapons and previous obligations to fully halt uranium enrichment work, heavy water work relevant to the development of a plutonium-based weapon, and the construction of ballistic missiles.
Cruz says none of these restrictions should be lifted before Congress has fully reviewed and voted on the deal. Legislators have legally been given 60 days to do this.
However, the nuclear deal inked in Vienna this week makes no mention of the law giving Congress the power to review the deal. Instead, it assumes that Congress has already signed off.
Cruz is threatening to block new funding for the State Department and withhold all of its nominees from approval until Obama guarantees that no U.N. action will be taken before Congress performs its oversight role.
“I write to express deep concern about your nuclear deal with Iran,” Cruz wrote to Obama on Thursday, according to a copy of the letter.
“Language in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) assumes Congressional consent of this agreement and fails to even mention the statutory review process that you signed into law on February 27, 2015,” Cruz writes.
A key annex of the deal says the United States and Iran “‘will endorse this JCPOA,’ and further elucidates that the UN Security Council will undertake a prompt review of the agreement after the conclusion of negotiations,” Cruz writes.
Within 90 days after the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) endorses the deal, the U.S. has promised to “issue waivers” aimed at rolling back sanctions on Tehran.
“Nowhere does the Annex mention the United States Congress or recognize mandatory Congressional review under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015,” Cruz writes. “By virtue of the Congressional review mechanism you agreed to, implementation of a deal cannot go into effect until Congress receives all necessary documentation, evaluates the deal, and renders a judgment.”
As written, however, the deal does not acknowledge Congress’ role.
“It seems your Administration intended all along to circumvent this domestic review by moving the agreement to the UN Security Council before the mandatory 60-day review period ends, thus adopting an agreement without Congressional consent,” Cruz writes. “That Samantha Power has already introduced a draft resolution to the Security Council portrays an offensive level of disrespect for the American people and their elected representatives in Congress.”
Cruz demands that the White House act quickly to validate Congress’ role in approving or rejecting the deal.
“Under no circumstances should the Executive Branch take such action before the Congressional review process is complete,” he writes. “Thus, I ask that you provide written assurances that you will take all necessary steps to block any UN Security Council resolution approving the JCPOA until the statutory timeline for Congressional review has run its course.”
“Until you provide such assurances, I intend to block all nominees for the Department of State and hold any legislation that reauthorizes funds for the Department of State,” Cruz writes.
Sen. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) also has expressed concerns about the administration’s attempt to circumvent Congress.
“The White House’s plan to preempt Congress’s 60-day review of the Iran deal by first seeking approval from the U.N. Security Council, whose members include at least six non-democracies, would be a breathtaking assault on American sovereignty and congressional prerogative,” Kirk said in a statement. “I am shocked that Secretary of State Kerry actually admitted, on the record, that he wants to create a situation where congressional disapproval of the Iran deal would make the United States in violation of the international community.”
One D.C. political operative involved in the congressional fight expressed shock at the White House’s move.
“This is a move that the craziest militias in the 1990s could never have imagined,” the source told the Free Beacon. “The president is de facto collaborating with an avowed enemy of the United States to leverage the undemocratic cesspool that is the United Nations against America’s lawmakers and the people who elected them.”
Yes, I did. And I’m respectfully waiting for your answer. Please, edify me.
I am glad Cruz is saying this...
On a related issue - I sometimes wonder what would have happened if Byrd were still alive. Would he have put up with Obama usurping Congress’ role like most Rats have?
Good idea Cruz but not a damn chance. King Obama is in complete control and as dictator he will do what he damn pleases. Waste of time.
Where are the other 500+ congress-losers on this? These idiots gave away their power when they reversed their role a while back. Idiots...friggin’ idiots.
He won’t do crap. He voted for this already when he flipped the constitution on its head, by saying Obama can veto their refusal to pass the treaty.
He won’t do crap.
**********
Cruz will do as he said. Sit back, watch and learn.
Okay - our Congress promised to defund Obamacare.
Have they done it?
Our Congress promised to cut Obama’s budget.
Have they done it?
Our Congress promised to derail the Obama agenda.
Have they done it?
Have they done these things?
Any of them?
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, released the following statement regarding votes on the Iran Nuclear Review Act: “This bill was a missed opportunity. If Congress had acted to defend our constitutional authority – if Congress had adopted the Cruz-Toomey amendment – then we would be able to stop a bad Iran deal. Instead, the odds are now overwhelming that under these ground rules President Obama will negotiate, and Congress will acquiesce to, a terrible deal that allows Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and will endanger the lives of millions of Americans and our allies. “I voted no on cloture because we should have insisted on amendments to put real teeth in this bill. Ultimately, I voted yes on final passage because it may delay, slightly, President Obama’s ability to lift the Iran sanctions and it ensures we will have a Congressional debate on the merits of the Iran deal. I will continue to lead the fight to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and to protect the national security of America and our allies.”
Another Ted Cruz Naysayer heard from.
I wonder if in the future “Obama” will become a word meaning treason in the same way “Bork” became a word meaning to unfairly attack and smear.
The GOP campaigned on stopping Obamacare, reducing the budget deficit and opposing the Obama agenda- the GOP lied. The Gop-e is for big government.
The issue of a nuclear Iran is wholly different. The GOP-e vested interests do not want a nuclear Iran. They will not allow the president to bypass Congress on this matter.
This is what I suspect. The damned Senate and House are full of enemy islamists and their facilitators.
It’s a lesser evil. Lets elect more GOP liberals no matter what.
I love Cruz. But he justifies his vote with “we should have insisted...”?
I see the Ted Cruz Nay-Sayers have arrived.
I’m for Cruz but have no trust in any of them.
Let Cruz prove me wrong.
If Ted Cruz wants to be president he’d would be better off going before the American people and declaring that he will lead an effort to defund the U.N. if it acts on the Iran treaty before Congress has a chance to.
Then he can make a major issue out of the outrages the U.N. has committed — at American taxpayers’ expense — with specific examples that will arouse prospective voters’ anger, fill large auditoriums to hear his speeches, and propel him to frontrunner status in the Republican presidential race. This is how Donald Trump is vaulting over his Republican rivals.
Ted Cruz has to stop sounding like he’s trying to win a professorship in Constitutional law at Harvard rather than the presidency. Half the people in this country don’t know what the Constitution is. That’s one of the greatest problems in this country — mass ignorance — which is why we need a Conservative president who will reform our education system.
But Ted Cruz is not going to make it to the White House if he can’t speak on the same level as the people, who need to be energized, not bored with the intricate legal and parliamentary issues he seems so enamored with.
Did you read the article, and Cruz’s letter to Obama?
“Until you provide such assurances, I intend to block all nominees for the Department of State and hold any legislation that reauthorizes funds for the Department of State,” Cruz writes.
We’ll see what happens. I no longer have faith in any of them.
What’s going on here.....
What is happening behind the surface is that Obama doesn’t want Congressional Democrats to be held accountable for their votes on the Iranian Nuke deal.
In an attempt to bypass Congress, Democrats would be off the hook. They would simply tell their constituents, hey, we wanted to vote against it but it was out of our hands.
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