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| FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2014 file photo, then-Rep., now Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark, speaks in Jonesboro, Ark. The man leading the effort to torpedo an agreement with Iran is a rookie Republican senator, an Army veteran with a Harvard law degree and a long record of tough rhetoric against President Barack Obama’s foreign policy. Cotton’s previous forays into foreign policy raised as many hackles as the letter he authored this week lecturing Iran’s leaders on American democracy. This time, 46 fellow Republicans signed onto the document. |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Senate Democrats said Tuesday that the GOP letter about nuclear
talks with Iran undercuts the U.S. at the negotiating table and
threatens to torpedo bipartisanship on Capitol Hill when it comes to the
delicate issue of preventing a nuclear-armed Iran.
Former
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton also weighed in, saying
Republicans were either trying to help the Iranians or hurt President
Barack Obama.
As negotiators rush to reach an
accord with Iran by the end of the month, partisan bickering continued
on Capitol Hill, prompting Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia to ask,
rhetorically: "Is the Senate capable of tackling challenging national
security questions in a mature and responsible way?"
Kaine said the letter freshman Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., wrote to the leaders of Iran amounted to a partisan "sideshow."
The
letter, signed by 47 of the Senate's 54 Republicans, including members
of the leadership and potential presidential candidates, warned that
unless Congress approved it, any nuclear deal they cut with Obama could
expire the minute he leaves office.
The U.S.
and five other nations are working to craft an agreement that would
prevent Iran from being able to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran insists
its nuclear work is peaceful. Republicans worry that Iran is not
negotiating in good faith and that a deal would be insufficient and
unenforceable, allowing Iran to eventually become a nuclear-armed state.
Cotton
denied undermining Obama's negotiating position. Appearing on MSNBC, he
said, "We're making sure that Iran's leaders understand that if
Congress doesn't approve a deal, Congress won't accept a deal."
He
accused Iran of seeking "a nuclear umbrella so they can continue to
export terrorism around the world."
Iranian
Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif was quoted by the website of
Iranian state TV on Tuesday as saying the letter's warning that any
nuclear deal could be scrapped once Obama leaves office suggests the
United States is "not trustworthy." He called the letter "unprecedented
and undiplomatic." Earlier, he had dismissed it as a "propaganda ploy."
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell defended the letter.
"If
there is not a deal, we've had some of our Democratic friends say the
choice is between this deal and war," he told reporters. "No, the choice
is between this deal and greater sanctions because we've finally
discovered one thing that works."
In a news conference on another issue, Clinton wondered aloud about the purpose of the letter.
"There
appear to be two logical answers: Either these senators were trying to
be helpful to the Iranians or harmful to the commander in chief in the
midst of high-stakes international diplomacy," Clinton said. "Either
answer does discredit to the letter's signatories."
The
signatories include a handful of Republican White House prospects,
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand
Paul, among them. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott
Walker issued statements suggesting their Senate colleagues were
justified in sending the letter.
"The senators
are reacting to reports of a bad deal that will likely enable Iran to
become a nuclear state over time," Bush said.
Said
Walker, "Unless the White House is prepared to submit the Iran deal it
negotiates for congressional approval, the next president should not be
bound" by it.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,
top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the GOP letter
weakens the American position because it "shows division."
"Everything is done to attack," Feinstein said about Congress. "And that's not what our government should be."
In
remarks on the Senate floor, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., pronounced the
letter reckless, much as it would have been for U.S. lawmakers to "reach
out to the Vietnamese" a generation ago. He said he hoped it would not
cause the negotiations to fail.
Democrats
didn't always agree with President George W. Bush's foreign policy
decisions, but Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., said he would have never
contemplated writing such a letter when Bush was in office. "You can
disagree and you can disagree without being disagreeable about issues,"
Nelson said.
Kaine spoke about what he called a
"rigorously bipartisan" bill - authored by Republican Sen. Bob Corker
of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, the chairman and ranking
member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - to allow Congress to
review any final agreement with Iran.
Corker, one of seven Republicans who did not sign the letter, also lamented the discord.
"There
are a lot of frustrations no doubt around the Iran issue and I hope we
can move beyond some of the drama to focus, if there's a deal, on its
content," Corker said. "But also to make sure that Congress has an
appropriate role."
