Iran Nuclear Deal Gains Momentum With Endorsements of Four House Democrats
2015-09-01 02:03:53.350 GMT
Iran Nuclear Deal Gains Momentum With Endorsements of Four House
Democrats
By ALEXANDER BURNS
(New York Times) -- Three House Democrats from New York and
a House Democrat from Florida who is running for a Senate seat
endorsed President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran on Monday,
lending fresh momentum to the pact from political quarters that
once appeared most leery of it.
In rapid succession, Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez,
Gregory W. Meeks and Yvette Clarke of New York backed the deal,
as did Representative Patrick Murphy, the Democratic
establishment’s choice to compete for the Senate seat being
vacated by the Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio. Mr.
Murphy’s decision was the most surprising: Democratic leaders
supporting the deal had written him off as he battles
Representative Alan Grayson, a liberal who is leaning against the
accord, for his party’s Senate nomination.
“There is ‘no other available alternative,’ ” Mr. Murphy
wrote, quoting Florida’s Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, who
also supports the deal. “On balance, I cannot let possibilities a
decade or more in the future, however troubling, outweigh the
immediate benefits of this agreement.”
Mr. Meeks said that rejecting the deal would leave the
United States only with alternatives that “do far less, if
anything at all, to change Iranian nuclear and weaponization
pursuits.”
The decisions by all four House members speak to the
shifting politics of the Iran deal. For Democrats, especially
those with potential primary competition, opposing the accord now
appears to be a greater political risk than supporting it.
Mr. Meeks, Ms. Velázquez and Ms. Clarke were among the last
New York City lawmakers to announce their views on the nuclear
deal, which would lift punitive sanctions on Iran in exchange for
the country’s dismantling of parts of its nuclear program and its
allowing international inspections of certain facilities.
The New York congressional delegation has been a source of
forceful opposition to the pact, including among Democrats.
Senator Chuck Schumer broke with the rest of the party’s Senate
leadership to denounce the deal, and was joined by several senior
Jewish lawmakers in the House delegation. Of the 16 Democrats in
Congress publicly opposed to the deal, 10 are from New York or
New Jersey.
But the balance of opinion is shifting. After Mr. Schumer
and Representative Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking member of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, came out in opposition, Democratic
leaders feared a flood of “no” votes from the New York area. The
opposite appears to be happening.
Supporters of the nuclear deal have had greater success in
swaying New York’s more liberal members of Congress, especially
those representing heavily black and Hispanic districts. In
addition to Mr. Meeks and Ms. Velázquez, Representative José E.
Serrano of the Bronx endorsed the deal last week.
And in mid-August, Representative Jerrold Nadler of
Manhattan gave a crucial endorsement, becoming the lone Jewish
member of Congress from New York to support the agreement. Only a
few New York City holdouts remain, including Representatives
Charles B. Rangel, Joseph Crowley and Hakeem Jeffries.
Congress will vote in September on a resolution to
disapprove the deal. It is unclear whether opponents of the
agreement will be able to break an expected Democratic filibuster
in the Senate. Even if they succeed, it appears very unlikely
that they can muster the votes to override Mr. Obama’s expected
veto.
Copyright 2015 The New York Times Company
-0- Sep/01/2015 02:34 GMT
2015-09-01 02:03:53.350 GMT
Iran Nuclear Deal Gains Momentum With Endorsements of Four House
Democrats
By ALEXANDER BURNS
(New York Times) -- Three House Democrats from New York and
a House Democrat from Florida who is running for a Senate seat
endorsed President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran on Monday,
lending fresh momentum to the pact from political quarters that
once appeared most leery of it.
In rapid succession, Representatives Nydia M. Velázquez,
Gregory W. Meeks and Yvette Clarke of New York backed the deal,
as did Representative Patrick Murphy, the Democratic
establishment’s choice to compete for the Senate seat being
vacated by the Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio. Mr.
Murphy’s decision was the most surprising: Democratic leaders
supporting the deal had written him off as he battles
Representative Alan Grayson, a liberal who is leaning against the
accord, for his party’s Senate nomination.
“There is ‘no other available alternative,’ ” Mr. Murphy
wrote, quoting Florida’s Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, who
also supports the deal. “On balance, I cannot let possibilities a
decade or more in the future, however troubling, outweigh the
immediate benefits of this agreement.”
Mr. Meeks said that rejecting the deal would leave the
United States only with alternatives that “do far less, if
anything at all, to change Iranian nuclear and weaponization
pursuits.”
The decisions by all four House members speak to the
shifting politics of the Iran deal. For Democrats, especially
those with potential primary competition, opposing the accord now
appears to be a greater political risk than supporting it.
Mr. Meeks, Ms. Velázquez and Ms. Clarke were among the last
New York City lawmakers to announce their views on the nuclear
deal, which would lift punitive sanctions on Iran in exchange for
the country’s dismantling of parts of its nuclear program and its
allowing international inspections of certain facilities.
The New York congressional delegation has been a source of
forceful opposition to the pact, including among Democrats.
Senator Chuck Schumer broke with the rest of the party’s Senate
leadership to denounce the deal, and was joined by several senior
Jewish lawmakers in the House delegation. Of the 16 Democrats in
Congress publicly opposed to the deal, 10 are from New York or
New Jersey.
But the balance of opinion is shifting. After Mr. Schumer
and Representative Eliot Engel of New York, the ranking member of
the Foreign Affairs Committee, came out in opposition, Democratic
leaders feared a flood of “no” votes from the New York area. The
opposite appears to be happening.
Supporters of the nuclear deal have had greater success in
swaying New York’s more liberal members of Congress, especially
those representing heavily black and Hispanic districts. In
addition to Mr. Meeks and Ms. Velázquez, Representative José E.
Serrano of the Bronx endorsed the deal last week.
And in mid-August, Representative Jerrold Nadler of
Manhattan gave a crucial endorsement, becoming the lone Jewish
member of Congress from New York to support the agreement. Only a
few New York City holdouts remain, including Representatives
Charles B. Rangel, Joseph Crowley and Hakeem Jeffries.
Congress will vote in September on a resolution to
disapprove the deal. It is unclear whether opponents of the
agreement will be able to break an expected Democratic filibuster
in the Senate. Even if they succeed, it appears very unlikely
that they can muster the votes to override Mr. Obama’s expected
veto.
Copyright 2015 The New York Times Company
-0- Sep/01/2015 02:34 GMT