‘The Majority Should Decide’ Iran Deal

Today, I delivered remarks on the House floor this week, calling for a change in Senate rules to dispense with the 60-vote threshold that has thus far prevented Senate disapproval of President Obama’s Iran Deal. I am gathering signatures for a letter he plans to send to Senate leadership later today.

This week I am circulating a letter to my House colleagues that asks the Senate to drop the sixty vote requirement for consideration of the Iran deal. The American people sent us to Congress to represent their interests and to take actions that benefit our great country. Yet time and time again we hear from our constituents that Congress isn’t listening or is incapable of preforming its basic responsibilities as a legislature. Our request to eliminate the filibuster for some votes simply underscores that in a democracy the majority should decide. It is time to send a strong signal to this administration that it can no longer disregard the will of the American people and their representatives in Congress. I urge my colleagues to sign this letter that asks for a majority vote on the Iran deal in the Senate.

A recent Pew Research Center poll indicates that only 21 percent of the public supports the deal. Although details of secret side deals have not been submitted to Congress, the Obama administration is expected to treat today as the end of a 60-day congressional review deadline. Last week, the House passed legislation asserting that the deal should not go forward due to President Obama’s failure to comply with the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 which required that all details be submitted to Congress.

Text of the letter can be found below.

Dear Senator McConnell and Senator Reid,

As Members of the House of Representatives, we respectfully urge the Senate to modify its rules to a majority vote threshold of 51 senators to approve some legislation. Some pieces of legislation, like the Iran nuclear deal, are simply so consequential that they demand revisions to the Senate’s procedures.

The American people sent us to Congress to represent their interests and to take actions that benefit our great nation. Yet, time and again we hear from our constituents that Congress either isn’t listening or is incapable of performing its basic responsibilities as a legislature.

Our request to eliminate the filibuster for some votes simply underscores that in a democracy the majority should decide. The super-majority now required to advance legislation is 60 votes, which is not serving our country well.

We are under no illusion that the elimination of the Senate filibuster for some votes will guarantee the passage of legislation much less its enactment into law. However, a move by the Senate to a majority vote that can approve some legislation would make it much easier for Congress to advance meaningful solutions to challenges our country faces.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We stand ready to work with you and your Senate colleagues to improve our legislative process.