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Schumer Caves to WH Pressure on Iran Deal; Bibi Under Fire to Cancel Congressional Speech

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Wide-vewi of the entire Esfahan nuclear site in Iran. The facility that underwent significant transformation recently is approximately 400 meters from a perimeter fence that surrounds the Esfahan nuclear site. Iran’s nuclear ambitions include the creation of an arsenal of weapons . (Photo Credit: ISIS-online.org)
Longtime Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY) (left) announced that he will be part of a growing number of Democrats who will boycott Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed address before the joint sessions of Congress on March 3rd. Sen Charles Schumer (right) has acquiesced to the dictates of partisan politics and has not support a bill that would ask for new sanctions against Iran as he originally promised he would
Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015; legislation that would impose economic pressure on Iran if international negotiations do not yield a final nuclear deal by June 30th, and impose a Congressional review period of 30 continuous session days in the event of a final deal.

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is a man who yields great political influence in this country, as he is currently the third ranking Democrat in the US Senate. As his formidability increases he eyes the Senate minority leadership position, but for now the veteran legislator has his own battles to fight that will in large measure determine his future on Capital Hill.

These days, Senator Schumer is straddling the proverbial fence; a dance that elected officials often times find themselves engaged in. As a loyal and lifelong Democrat and a vocal supporter of both President Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Schumer had declared his belief in the administration’s efforts towards finding a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

Now that feverish negotiations are underway between the Obama administration and the Iranian regime to strike a deal on the latter’s willingness to curtail their burgeoning nuclear weapons program, both Democrats and Republicans are taking hard line stances on this issue.

Iran’s stated intentions have been to annihilate Israel and place the rest of the Western world in existential danger as the Islamic regime seeks to further its pernicious agenda.

The negotiations with Iran, which also involve the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany, were extended in November 2014 with a deadline of June 30, 2015.

At his recent state-of-the-union address, President Obama told congress to “hold its fire” on the Iran issue and promised that he would veto any bill brought before his desk asking for more sanctions against Iran before March 24th – a date when a framework for a final deal is to be done.

Days later, Senators Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015; legislation that would impose economic pressure on Iran if international negotiations do not yield a final nuclear deal by June 30th, and impose a Congressional review period of 30 continuous session days in the event of a final deal.

Menendez, Schumer and others then put the brakes on new legislation, due to partisan pressure, thus ending a looming showdown between Congress and President Obama over the negotiations.

“The legislation that Sen. Kirk and I have drafted would signal to the Iranian regime that there will be more consequences if they choose not to reach a final deal,” Menendez said. “Many of my Democratic colleagues and I sent a letter to the president, telling him that we will not support passage of the Kirk-Menendez bill on the Senate floor until after March 24 and only if there is no political framework agreement because, as the letter states, we remain hopeful that diplomacy will succeed in reversing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon capability.”

The letter was signed by Sens. Schumer of New York, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Chris Coons of Delaware, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana.

Schumer told the media in a statement that: “I, along with a group of my colleagues – many of whom who are sponsors of the original Menendez-Kirk legislation – have said we will not vote for the bill on the floor of the Senate until then. If by March 24th the Iranians haven’t come to an agreement, I will vote for the bill on the floor of the Senate at that time.”

He added that, “Making clear that there will be additional sanctions, pending a failure to reach a strong agreement, is a good step forward. This bill spells out in no uncertain terms that if the Iranians dither, if they don’t come to a tough, strong agreement that rules out an Iranian nuclear weapons program, there will be further sanctions and further actions by Congress.”

In a strongly worded message sent to Senator Schumer by Lynne And Nissim Tammam, chairpersons of the Yom Hashoah Committee in New York and fierce advocates of a nuclear free Iran, the longtime Jewish activists said, “The bottom line is that the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act must be enacted before the March 24th deadline for a “political framework agreement” with Iran. The current agreement being negotiated is dangerous to Israel, the region, and the world. According to Israeli intelligence sources, it leaves Iran with the ability to produce the necessary material for a nuclear bomb within a few months and, afterwards, to produce dozens of nuclear bombs.”

The message also added that, “At this perilous time, Senator Schumer needs to feel enormous pressure from his constituents. Calls to his office should be made as soon as possible in this immediate aftermath of his refusal to support the passage of the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2015 before March 24th”.

“Without passage of the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act and an override of its threatened veto, the terms currently being negotiated with Iran will put the U.S. and the entire world in a compromised and even more dangerous situation. If Iran “agrees” to the current terms, the U.S. will be compelled to lift sanctions on Iran which the Administration itself has declared to be the “world’s foremost leader of state-sponsored terrorism” (the bombing in Argentina is one tragic example).”

The White House, British Prime Minister David Cameron and other international leaders have been lobbying U.S. lawmakers hard, arguing that if new sanctions legislation were passed, Iran could walk away from the talks and say the U.S. was negotiating in bad faith. Obama said the willingness of America’s international partners to enforce existing sanctions against Iran also would wane, according to an AP report.

Then House Speaker John Boehner fueled the rising friction with the White House by announcing that he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a staunch opponent of Iran, to stand before Congress March 3 and push for new sanctions, according to the report. The announcement caught the administration off-guard and Obama says he will not be meeting with Netanyahu when he visits Washington.

Boehner defended his decision by saying that the House is an equal branch of government and had the right to invite the Israeli leader to “talk to the members of Congress about the serious threat that Iran poses and the serious threat of radical Islam.”

A growing number of top Democrats plan to skip next month’s Capitol Hill speech by Netanyahu and even a hashtag called #SkiptheSpeech has been established to apply even more pressure on the Israeli prime minister to announce his intention to cancel it.

Reps. James Clyburn (S.C.), the third-ranking House Democrat, and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.), chairman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), are just the latest lawmakers to indicate they won’t attend the March 3 address before a rare joint session of Congress, according to a report on The Hill web site.

The Democrats join other leading Capitol Hill liberals – including Reps. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights activist and G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), head of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – in protesting the speech by vowing to steer clear of it.

The uproar surrounding the address has taken on a life its own; the speech is scheduled to come near the end of delicate negotiations between the Obama administration and Iran over the future of the Iranian nuclear program.

One Democratic aide lamented that the debate has evolved in such a way that lawmakers risk the perception of being forced to choose between their support for Israel and that for the White House.

“We want to support both,” the aide said, “and there’s no way to attend this speech and do that.

Several other liberal Democrats, including Reps. Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), also intend to boycott the address.

At a Jewish event in New York, on Sunday morning, Feb 8, Rep Charles Rangel (D-NY) said he’d be joining his colleagues in the congressional black caucus in boycotting Netanyahu’s speech. He added that he’d be leading the campaign to urge others in Congress to follow suit. He offered no comment on whether this concerted effort to quash the Netanyahu speech was predicated on racial grounds or on the well publicized animosity between President Obama and his Israeli counterpart.

The Democrats’ criticisms of the speech are three-fold. First, they object to Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) decision to invite Netanyahu without first approaching the White House or Democratic leaders in Congress, a move they say bucks the tradition of consulting across the aisle before bringing heads of state into the Capitol.

Second, the Democrats contend Netanyahu’s speech is ill-timed because it comes just a few weeks before the Israeli prime minister faces a tough reelection contest in Israel. To use the Capitol as a campaign prop, they charge, is an inappropriate “exploitation” of the U.S. Congress, in the words of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

And third, the critics fear Netanyahu’s message – which is expected to feature calls for tougher sanctions on Iran – could undermine the multilateral nuclear disarmament talks being led by the Obama administration, which opposes new sanctions while the negotiations are ongoing.

Joining the efforts against Netanyahu’s proposed address before Congress are the Anti-Defamation League, an organization dedicated to combating anti-Semitism and racial and religious prejudice.

ADL Director Abe Foxman said the invitation extended by Boehner “looks like a political challenge to the White House and/or a campaign effort in Israel. … I certainly support the sanctions on Iran if the diplomatic deal doesn’t come through, but having said that, the invitation and acceptance is ill-advised for either side. It is too important an issue to politicize it.”

JTA reported that Foxman also said Boehner should disinvite Netanyahu and that the prime minister should “unaccept,” “I see the White House giving both parties a ladder to climb down by saying this is a protocol breach. I hope they accept it,”said Foxman.

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