Senate Democrats reached their magic number of votes to filibuster bringing up any vote on Obama’s Iran Deal. Although, it is not clear that all 41 democrats will stick together to filibuster the vote, it is probably likely. The vote could still be disapproved by congress, but the president certainly has enough votes to sustain a veto. Meanwhile, public opinion still overwhelmingly disapproves of the deal. President Obama and Secretary Kerry announced the deal in July, when they seemed absolutely desperate to get a deal done. Even though they know Iran has not seemed to change their tune on taking over the middle east and even further destabilizing the area. This is the same regime who proudly states that their goal is to end the way of life of western civilization and wipe Israel and the Jewish people off the planet. There are some Democrats who have showed their disapproval of the dangerous deal. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bob Menendez(D-NJ) are two of four Senate Democrats to realize this is a bad deal for America and the world. The over $100 billion the Iranian government will receive in sanction relief will be used in part to fund terrorism in the region. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) said in his opposition to the deal on tuesday.
It is true that Iran is the world leader in funding terrorism. It is true that during the negotiations, the Iranian regime was chanting “death to America” while President Obama and Secretary Kerry were working on a diplomatic approach to resolving the situation. Now does that sound like a place the United States should be trying to appease, or even negotiate with? Of course, the terminal goal of the deal was to do one thing, stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. However, the United States is not in charge in inspecting Iran’s nuclear facilities. At the same time Iran is not subject to anytime anywhere inspections, meaning notice would have to be given before any inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Congress will also not be presented with the agreement between the IAEA and Iran. This raises red flags everywhere, Iran also could outsource their nuclear plan to their buddies in North Korea at anytime. Democrats in congress are not only ignoring the voters in their home states who put them in office in the first place, but also are putting a false narrative in their head that peace with Iran is obtainable with a pen.
Don’t think the deal will matter in the end anyways? In 1994, President Bill Clinton worked on a similar deal to end North Korea’s nuclear aspirations. In exchange for sanction relief and diplomatic trade relations, with the United States and the rest of the world. Clinton also put his trust in the I.A.E.A stating “Compliance will be certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency.” A dozen years later, North Korea exploded an atomic bomb underground in their nuclear facility and proudly announced they have also acquired Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could strike California.
Many democrats in congress have admitted they have not read the deal, but just trust the president’s instinct. Congress must not forget that their first job is being loyal to their constituency first, not a president who is determined to leave a legacy even if it completely backfires. That does not sound like common sense politics to me.
Peter Hinman is a senior majoring in political science.
