Boozman, Cotton cheer Iran bill

WASHINGTON -- Arkansas' U.S. senators Tuesday said they support legislation ensuring Congress gets a say on negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

They praised the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for unanimously approving the bill earlier in the day.

U.S. Sens. John Boozman, a Republican from Rogers, and Tom Cotton, a Republican from Dardanelle, said they are concerned the framework that has been negotiated by the U.S. and five other countries to regulate and reduce Iran's ability to create a nuclear weapon doesn't go far enough.

Participating countries have agreed to complete negotiations by the end of June, according to the White House. After saying for months congressional oversight wasn't needed, President Barack Obama will likely sign the congressional review bill if it reaches his desk, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said in his daily press briefing.

Cotton said he was glad to see the committee approve the oversight bill unanimously.

"I hope that shows that we can move forward and members of both parties will stand up for the American people's right ... to review this bill before it ever is consummated," he said.

Cotton has drawn national attention in recent weeks for a March 9 letter he wrote, and had 46 Republican colleagues sign, to leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It noted that without congressional approval, any nuclear-arms deal agreed to by Obama and Iran can be revoked when the president leaves office in 2017.

Cotton met with Undersecretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, the lead Iran negotiator, to talk about the deal and negotiations at the State Department on Thursday, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Doug Frantz told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Cotton said he still thinks the Iran deal is a bad idea.

"I still disagree fundamentally with the path we've gone down," Cotton said. "You don't need anything classified or technical information to recognize the fundamental flaw, which is we are going to let the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism, that still chants death to America and calls America the great Satan, get nuclear weapons at their finger tips."

Senators, including Boozman and Cotton, met in a closed meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday morning before the committee voted.

Boozman said afterward the Obama administration is worried that legislation requiring congressional review of the final deal could stymie negotiations. But Boozman said that oversight matters because U.S. and Iranian leaders publicly disagree about what is in the framework they reached last month.

"I'm very concerned and certainly from what I hear would vote against [the deal]. It's really difficult to know right now what is in the framework because when you listen to the administration they are saying one thing and then the Iranians are something else, totally, and then usually finishing up with 'Death to America and Israel.'"

Boozman said the deal is too important to move forward without congressional input.

"We need to go forward now and declare Congress' right to weigh in," he said.

Metro on 04/15/2015

Upcoming Events