By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Congress is back in action in Washington DC and the first item of business is whether to accept or reject the international agreement with Iran that Secretary of State John Kerry (D) and leaders of several major powers negotiated with the Iranian Government in order to persuade Iran to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Congresswoman Martha Roby (R-Montgomery) opposes the agreement.
US Representative Roby said in a statement on Facebook, “This week the House is set to vote on a resolution rejecting President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, and support is building. Today, Senator Joe Manchin became the fourth Senate Democrat to come out in opposition to this deal.”
Roby said, “While reports show the president will have the votes in the Senate to sustain his promised veto, I believe it is still important to raise awareness about the shortcomings of this deal. It is flawed, weak and in many ways serves the interests of the Iranians at the expense of our own.”
Rep. Roby said, “I’ve read most of the agreement, and like the headline says, I don’t think it takes a nuclear expert to figure out this is a weak deal. Why are we negotiating in the first place with a regime that has a stated intent to destroy America and Israel? It makes no sense. Remember, just days after this deal was reached, at a speech in Tehran the Iranian Supreme Leader applauded and encouraged those in the crowd who chanted ‘Death to America!’ and ‘Death to Israel!’ And, if we are going to negotiate, why be so unwilling to walk away when our stated objectives fail one after the other?”
The conservative congresswoman said, “Beyond that, I think in the Administration’s rush to save face, they agreed to very bad terms. Three main points stand out to me: First, inspections are not ‘anywhere, anytime’ like they originally said would be a deal-breaking must. In fact, at certain sites the Iranians could have up to 24 days notice before inspectors are allowed in. That’s a joke. And even then the US is prohibited from making unilateral inspections. Second, the ‘snap back’ provisions. This is what the Administration points to as the accountability mechanism in the deal. But there’s a problem. One one hand, Secretary Kerry and President Obama say unilateral economic sanctions don’t work and put the United States at a disadvantage. Yet, on the other hand, they say if Iran doesn’t live up to the agreement, our unilateral sanctions ‘snap back’ into place. Well, you can’t have it both ways. If our sanctions aren’t enough on their own now, why would we rely on them as a way to hold Iran accountable? Third, after 15 years of sanctions having been lifted, Iran will be an economically stronger country. No one argues that. Iran is one of only three countries in the world that the US has labeled as ‘state sponsor of terrorism.’ Under this deal, at least $50 billion would flow into Iran’s coffers. Let’s not kid ourselves: some of that money is going to be used to try to harm Americans and our allies.”
Rep. Roby wrote, “So, not only will we have paved the way for Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon and a potential nuclear arms race in the Middle East, but we will have strengthened the hand of this adversarial state while weakening our own.”
Rep. Roby said, “They now say President Obama has the votes to uphold his promised veto in the Senate. I believe we still need to work to point out the weaknesses and make those defending this deal explain why to their constituents. The one silver lining is, because this is not a treaty but an executive agreement, it is subject for review in the next administration. Let’s pray that one doesn’t adhere to a foreign policy doctrine of ‘leading from behind.’
On Wednesday, Presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Donald Trump are heading up a rally in our nation’s capital opposing the Obama-Iran deal.
New York City Billionaire businessman Donald Trump said in a statement, “I will be in Washington DC on Wednesday, 1 PM, in front of the Capitol, to protest the horrible and incompetent deal being made with Iran.”
Sen. Ted Cruz said at a campaign stop, “Have any of y’all seen the movie Scarface? This is the equivalent of law enforcement picking up the phone and calling Tony Montana and saying, ‘Hey Tony, you got any drugs?’ ‘I don’t got no drugs.’ ‘Thank you, Tony.’ That is essentially the Iranian nuclear inspection regime.”
Congresswoman Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District.
(Original reporting by CNN about Cruz’s comments contributed to this report.)
