Washington, DC – NIAC Action Executive Director Jamal Abdi issued the following statement after Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) , Mark Warner (D-VA), and Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) announced they will vote for the Iran nuclear agreement:
Back to top“We commend Senators Booker, Warner, and Heitkamp for supporting the Iran agreement. We also applaud the work of our grassroots volunteer teams in Virginia and New Jersey for their tireless efforts to help make this happen.“The work for the agreement’s supporters is not done. There are now 37 Senators supporting the deal. While that is enough to sustain the President’s veto, 41 votes are necessary to block a disapproval resolution outright. Four of the remaining eight undecided Senators will need to come out in support in order to seal the deal next week.“The test is whether Senate Democrats will hold firm in blocking a resolution of disapproval from moving forward. Passage of a resolution of disapproval, even if vetoed, would be damaging to U.S. interests and leadership. Senate Democrats should not merely depend on the President to bail them out from such a harmful action through his veto. They must demand that opponents of the deal be held to the same 60 vote standard on the Iran vote as on any other consequential Senate vote.“Nearly the entire Republican presidential field has pledged to nullify the agreement if they take the White House. The opposition is now hoping to set the stage for further efforts to undermine and eventually unravel the deal. Blocking the passage of a disapproval resolution with 41 votes will help close off that opening.”
