Tennessee Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Texas Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in sending a letter to President Biden rebuking the administration’s negotiations for a new Iran nuclear deal.
In the letter, the senators state the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) requires the president to submit any Iran deal to Congress – and they will block implementation of any deal not submitted, according to a press release by Cruz’s office.
I sent a letter to Joe Biden, joined by 32 of my Republican colleagues, saying very simply: The President is required to submit any Iran deal to Congress and we will block implementation of any deal not submitted. pic.twitter.com/1AgDtCB3yZ
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 8, 2022
“We write to call attention to a range of obligations that your administration is statutorily mandated to fulfill in relation to Congressional oversight over any such agreement, and to ensure that your officials know we are committed to providing availability, assistance, and resources so you can fully meet these mandates,” the letter begins.
“We also write to emphasize that we are committed to using the full range of options and leverage available to United States senators to ensure that you meet those obligations, and that the implementation of any agreement will be severely if not terminally hampered if you do not,” the letter continues.
“The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (“INARA”, 42 USC § 2160e) mandates that your administration submit to Congress for evaluation, within 5 days after it is reached, any agreement related to the nuclear program with Iran, as well as all related documents and side deals,” the letter goes on to say. “The submission of such materials then triggers a statutorily-defined review process, and includes the possibility of Congress blocking implementation of the agreement.”
Co-signers of the letter, including Senators Blackburn and Hagerty, are Senators Cotton (R-AR), Grassley (R-IA), Marshall (R-KS), Tillis (R-NC), Rubio (R-FL), Scott (R-SC), Cassidy (R-LA), Braun (R-IN), Scott (R-FL), Lummis (R-WY), Wicker (R-MS), Ernst (R-IA), Boozman (R-AR), Johnson (R-WI), Barrasso (R-WY), Young (R-IN), Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Cramer (R-ND), Inhofe (R-OK), Hoeven (R-ND), Sasse (R-NE), Daines (R-MT), Toomey (R-PA), Kennedy (R-LA), Cornyn (R-TX), Portman (R-OH), Lee (R-UT), Thune (R-SD), Risch (R-ID), and Sullivan (R-AK).
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
Photo “Bill Hagerty” by United States Congress. Photo “Marsha Blackburn” by Sen. Marsha Blackburn. Photo “Ted Cruz” by U.S. Senate Photographic Studio. Background Photo “White House” by Ad Meskens. CC BY-SA 3.0.
