Stop This Agreement

Obama and Kerry showed their disdain for Congress and the American people by taking the Iranian deal to the UN first. As John Kerry declared, “Well excuse me, the world, you should wait for the United States Congress because there has to be some way for the international community to speak.” So the security of the American people lies in the hand of the United Nations or I should say, the Obama-Kerry axis has now sacrificed the security of the American people to international bodies that include nations who don’t have our best interest at heart. This gambit undermines the Corker bill, signed by President Obama, as well as our sovereignty as the United Nations Security Council resolution could compel American action even if Congress rejects the deal. Obama tact is to force Congress hand by noting, if we don’t follow through then we are in violation of international law.

Senators’ reaction was bipartisan as both Republican Senator Corker and Democratic Senator Cardin condemned the action and as one Republican congressman observed, “This violates the spirit of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, which the President signed into law inconceivable- yet sadly not surprising.”

Congress has become the afterthought, an obstacle to be avoided, and the UN resolution is designed to put pressure upon the Democrats to stay loyal to their president and not to go against “international law.” However, there is one source left for Congress, the American Public. If there was a time for Republicans and those Democrats who still understand what is at stake to act in a bipartisan basis, this is it. Noah Rothman in Commentary noted, “Events have been set in motion that the president will attempt to preserve with all his power, but there is a precedent for Democratic politicians bucking a president from their party and derailing a bad treaty. The late West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd personally traveled to Leningrad in 1979 to explain to Leonid Brezhnev “the requirements of our Constitution” that require Senate ratification of foreign treaty. This was no courtesy call; Byrd made the trip in order to ensure that the SALT II agreement President Jimmy Carter submitted to the Senate was an acceptable one. The deal was never ratified by the upper chamber of Congress, and Obama’s Iran gambit can be similarly delegitimized.”

This deal was a sell out to Iran and all but assured Iran will be a nuclear power but worse, the removal of the sanctions against conventional weapons and the removal of sanctions as well returning of the Iranian frozen assets will give Iran the ability to cement its ability to control the region. This will also set up a nuclear arms race within the region and continue instability in a crucial region. Obama has set in motion policies that future generations will have to deal with as he rides off into the sunset and writes his memoirs.

Congress has but one option, vote against the deal and send a message to the Democratic Party candidates running to replace Obama, in particular Obama's former Secretary of State. Do you stand with Obama and Kerry or the American people? We are less safe today than when Obama took office, and now let's see Hillary Clinton defend her record and that of her former boss. And for those who are forever yelling bipartisanship, well this is a good time to practice it. Bipartisanship calls for Congress to recover some of its institutional powers and vote down this agreement.