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The Daily Signal
After Blocking
Out Some Conservatives, House Passes Iran Review Bill
Josh Siegel
May 14, 2015
The House easily passed a bill today imposing congressional review over
a proposed nuclear deal with Iran after party leadership blocked
changes proposed by conservatives.
Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus had proposed a series
of amendments in an attempt to “strengthen” the bill, which the Senate
previously passed, but House Speaker John Boehner and his leadership
team prevented any debate.
“While I have many reservations about the Iran review bill that the
House passed today, my goal has always been to ensure that Congress has
the ability to thwart a bad deal,” said Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., of
the House Freedom Caucus in a statement to The Daily Signal. “While
this legislation is far from perfect, key decision-makers have
indicated a real willingness to address some of the concerns through
other legislation if necessary.”
Boehner and his team feared allowing votes on contentious amendments
would imperil a fragile bipartisan agreement.
Just 19 Republicans ultimately voted against the bill. The final vote
was 400-25.
“My colleagues and I have one goal: stop a bad deal,” Boehner, R-Ohio,
said in a statement. “The bipartisan legislation the House passed today
is the only way Congress will have that opportunity.”
In a nod to conservatives, Boehner did allow a vote on a separate bill
to toughen sanctions against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed group that
the U.S. considers a terrorist organization.
The House passed that bill, which gives the Treasury Department 90 days
to toughen sanctions against any U.S. financial institution that aids
Hezbollah or its media arm.
The Iran review legislation—which President Obama supports and is
expected to sign—would give Congress 30 days to review a nuclear pact
with Tehran.
Under the legislation, Congress could offer only a resolution
disapproving the deal. If the House and Senate could get enough votes
to overcome a presidential veto—which is considered doubtful—Obama
would have to leave the congressionally mandated sanctions in place.
House conservatives had pressed to change the bill.
One proposed change was to specify that a resolution of disapproval not
be subject to a filibuster in the Senate if Obama were to veto it and
an override vote was needed.
Another amendment would have required that any breach of a nuclear deal
by Iran be reported to Congress, and that the legislation clarify that
the stipulation apply to any sort of violation, not just one the
administration considers “significant.”
And yet another would have mandated that the director of national
intelligence certify Iran has “dismantled its ballistic weapons
development and research programs.”
But in the end, House leadership stopped those changes from having a
chance at happening.
Read this and other articles with links and photos at The Daily Signal
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