Posted on 03/11/2015 10:24:00 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Credit Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) for raising the issue. Without a letter reminding the White House, Congress and the American people that a deal must be approved by the Senate in order to be binding, we might never have learned from Secretary of State John Kerry that “we are not negotiating a legally binding plan.” Oh, really?
For starters, a colleague reminds me that this was done with the North Korea Agreed Framework, negotiated by the very same U.S. diplomat, Wendy Sherman, who is handling the P5+1 deal.
What then do the Iranians think they are getting? No wonder the White House threw a fit. Cotton, as he did in an op-ed today, is reminding everyone of a simple fact: The deal goes away when Obama leaves office.
Cotton writes:
The critical role of Congress in the adoption of international agreements was clearly laid out by our Founding Fathers in our Constitution. And it’s a principle upon which Democrats and Republicans have largely agreed. In fact, then-Sen. Joe Biden once reflected on this very topic, writing that ‘the president and the Senate are partners in the process by which the United States enters into, and adheres to, international obligations.’ It’s not often I agree with former senator and now Vice President Biden, but his words here are clear. The Senate must approve any deal President Obama negotiates with Iran by a two-thirds majority vote. Anything less will not be considered a binding agreement when President Obama’s term expires in two years. This is true of any agreement, but in particular with the nuclear deal President Obama intends to strike with Iran.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
so why waste everyone’s time ?
IIRC we never did ratify SALT II with the Russkies.
Same will prove true if we elect someone that withdraw all of Obama’s executive orders with an executive order. It should be made a campaign issue.
This previous unknown fact makes any Iranian Nuclear deal scarier.
“For starters, a colleague reminds me that this was done with the North Korea Agreed Framework, negotiated by the very same U.S. diplomat, Wendy Sherman, who is handling the P5+1 deal.”
“Is it treasonous to oppose a temporary non legally binding plan that has not been agreed upon yet?”
Only in the treasonous minds of the rats in the outhouse/congress left wing media.
Same will prove true if we elect someone that withdraw all of Obama’s executive orders
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Yes, that’s possible, as long as we elect someone who is not a Republican. Who trusts the GOP to follow through on anything?
Or is it treasonous to pursue a “non-legally binding plan” to evade constitutional requirements for Senate advice and consent? Can the economic sanctions against Iran be removed by executive order?
correct, but it was complicated....
http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/salt2-1.html
The completed SALT II agreement was signed by President Carter and General Secretary Brezhnev in Vienna on June 18, 1979. President Carter transmitted it to the Senate on June 22 for its advice and consent to ratification.
On January 3, 1980, however, President Carter requested the Senate majority leader to delay consideration of the Treaty on the Senate floor in view of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Although the Treaty remained unratified, each Party was individually bound under the terms of international law to refrain from acts which would defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty, until it had made its intentions clear not to become a party to the Treaty.
In 1980, President Carter announced the United States would comply with the provisions of the Treaty as long as the Soviet Union reciprocated. Brezhnev made a similar statement regarding Soviet intentions.
More at the link
It’s totally irrelevant what John Kerry’s opinion is on this matter...
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