Editor’s Note: Noah Silverman, congressional affairs director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014, sent out the following status report on proposed legislation to impose sanctions on Iran if the current nuclear negotiations are unsuccessful.
By Noah Silverman
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As you know, the RJC has been the most consistent voice urging Congress to enact strong new legislation that will maximize pressure on Iran’s rogue regime to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons capability.
When Senator Kirk and Senator Menendez introduced their bipartisan bill to lock in new, crippling sanctions on Iran if the regime failed to follow through on its obligations under the Geneva accord, we launched an all-out effort to win support from Republican Senators.
Within days – thanks in large part to our efforts – 95 percent of the Senate Republicans had signed on as cosponsors of the Kirk/Menendez bill. Considering that the bill (S. 1881) has numerous Democrat cosponsors, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had pledged to permit Senate action soon when he delayed a vote on sanctions last year, success seemed within reach.
What happened next should trouble every pro-Israel American deeply. The Obama administration unleashed an unprecedented campaign to portray Kirk, Menendez and their backers as ‘warmongers.’
And they enlisted Democratic members of non-partisan pro-Israel organizations to work from within to undermine the push for Kirk-Menendez.
The Obama White House’s tactics have been disgraceful. But they’ve clearly had an effect. Democratic Kirk-Menendez cosponsors endorsed delaying a vote on the legislation they ostensibly support. Liberal news outlets attacked Republicans as ‘partisan’ for demanding a vote on bipartisan legislation.
And now the most prominent organization in the coalition of activist groups supporting Kirk-Menendez – the American Israel Public Affairs Committee – has reversed itself and is calling for Senate action on Kirk-Menendez to be delayed.
We still believe this legislation is urgently needed if there is to be any hope of convincing the Iranians to alter their course. And the good news is that Senate Republicans overwhelmingly understand this. Earlier this week, 42 GOP Senators sent Harry Reid a letter making it clear that Republicans who support Kirk-Menendez are determined to get a vote.
Now more than ever, Republican leaders in Congress will need our help. We want to thank you for everything you’ve already done – and to assure you that, no matter what others do, we are not going to give up on this effort. The stakes for our national security and for the survival of Israel are just too high.
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Preceding provided by the Republican Jewish Coalition
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ADL applauds Menendez’s call for bipartisanship on Iran
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Friday, Feb. 7, welcomed the strong comments by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) urging Congress, the administration and the American people to approach the challenges of the upcoming negotiations with Iran “as a bipartisan national security issue – not a partisan political issue” and to avoid “trying to force a vote on a national security matter before its appropriate time.”
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, issued the following statement:
Senator Menendez has presented a thoughtful case for allowing the diplomatic process some space to determine Iran’s true intentions while keeping the focus of the U.S. national discussion on the elements of what should be considered a successful outcome of the negotiations between the P5+1 and Iran.
We are deeply concerned that Iran’s nuclear program has progressed to a point where a final agreement must result in it being significantly rolled back.
If this can be achieved in a negotiated agreement with Iran, the world will be a safer place. If it cannot, we must be ready to immediately ratchet up pressure on Iran through stronger sanctions and be prepared to use all of the other means available to achieve an end of Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
We commend Senator Menendez for the compelling case he made for this approach when he said a final deal “cannot and should not rely simply on trust, but on real, honest, verifiable dismantlement of Iran’s capability to produce even one nuclear bomb.”
Many respected analysts have said a successful final agreement with Iran must start with a more robust inspection regime providing unfettered access and complete transparency. It should ensure that any future enrichment capability is significantly limited and stockpiles of enriched uranium are sent out of Iran to be converted to non-military grade before being returned to Iran for civilian use complying with Iran’s Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations. The underground enrichment facility at Fordow must be permanently closed and the heavy water plutonium facility planned for Arak should never become operational. The agreement should also be for a term sufficiently long enough to establish global trust that Iran is fully committed to the permanent abandonment of its nuclear weapons ambitions, and its terms should be included in a United Nations Security Council resolution which will authorize enforcement by the international community using all means available under the U.N. Charter.
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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League