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Schumer Says He Will Oppose Iran Nuclear Deal Schumer Says He Will Oppose Iran Nuclear Deal
(34 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the most influential Jewish voice in Congress, said Thursday night that he will oppose President Obama’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Schumer, the most influential Jewish voice in Congress, said Thursday night that he would oppose President Obama’s deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
“Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Mr. Schumer said in a lengthy statement. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.” “Advocates on both sides have strong cases for their point of view that cannot simply be dismissed,” Mr. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said in a lengthy statement. “This has made evaluating the agreement a difficult and deliberate endeavor, and after deep study, careful thought and considerable soul-searching, I have decided I must oppose the agreement and will vote yes on a motion of disapproval.”
With his decision, Mr. Schumer — who has spent the last several weeks meeting with Mr. Obama and other officials and experts like Wendy R. Sherman, the deal’s chief negotiator, and the former Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger, and carrying a dog-eared copy of the agreement in his briefcase — paves the way for other Democrats on the fence to join Republicans in showing their disapproval. Mr. Schumer had spent the last several weeks carrying a dog-eared copy of the agreement in his briefcase and meeting with Mr. Obama and officials like Wendy R. Sherman, the deal’s chief negotiator. With his decision, he paves the way for other Democrats on the fence to join Republicans in showing their disapproval.
“There are some who believe that I can force my colleagues to vote my way,” Mr. Schumer said. “While I will certainly share my view and try to persuade them that the vote to disapprove is the right one, in my experience with matters of conscience and great consequence like this, each member ultimately comes to their own conclusion.”“There are some who believe that I can force my colleagues to vote my way,” Mr. Schumer said. “While I will certainly share my view and try to persuade them that the vote to disapprove is the right one, in my experience with matters of conscience and great consequence like this, each member ultimately comes to their own conclusion.”
Mr. Schumer’s announcement comes as Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the House minority leader, labors to build a firewall in the House in support of the Iran deal, which has been denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. At six meetings in recent weeks, Ms. Pelosi has assembled an informal team of Democrats determined to win over the 146 House Democrats needed to uphold a veto. As if on cue, Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York, the ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who was widely expected to oppose the deal, announced his opposition Thursday night.
But Ms. Pelosi’s team has had its eye on Mr. Schumer, conceded Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois and one of Ms. Pelosi’s deputies on the Iran deal. Mr. Schumer’s announcement comes as Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the minority leader, labors to build a firewall in the House in support of the deal, which has been denounced by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel. At six meetings in recent weeks, Ms. Pelosi has assembled an informal team of Democrats determined to win over the 146 House Democrats needed to uphold a veto.
“Anybody whipping has never put Schumer in the ‘yes’ column,” she said Thursday. “But the calculation still is we’ll have the votes” even without him. But Ms. Pelosi’s team had had its eye on Mr. Schumer, conceded Representative Jan Schakowsky, Democrat of Illinois and one of Ms. Pelosi’s deputies on the Iran deal. Ms. Schakowsky said that Democratic leaders had never put Mr. Schumer “in the ‘yes’ column,” but that “the calculation still is we’ll have the votes” even without him.
So far, 12 Senate Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent, Senator Angus King of Maine, have announced their support for the deal. Two others, Senator Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, have all but announced their support.So far, 12 Senate Democrats and one Democratic-leaning independent, Senator Angus King of Maine, have announced their support for the deal. Two others, Senator Bernie Sanders, a liberal independent from Vermont, and Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, have all but announced their support.
Support of the deal by Mr. King, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Bill Nelson of Florida had given momentum to the accord. An announcement Thursday by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, that she would support the deal had given supporters a boost. Support for the deal by Mr. King, Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Bill Nelson of Florida had given momentum to the accord. And an announcement Thursday by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, that she would support the deal had given supporters a boost.
But Mr. Obama needs 34 votes to sustain a promised veto of legislation disapproving the Iran deal, which Republican leaders in the House and the Senate have promised to pass in September. A veto override would be an enormous blow to the president’s prestige. But Mr. Obama needs 34 votes to sustain a promised veto of legislation disapproving the deal, which Republican leaders in the House and the Senate have promised to pass in September.
Like many Jewish Democrats, Mr. Schumer approached the agreement under immediate pressure from his constituents, the administration, and his own personal history and faith. He read the agreement for the first time in his Park Slope, Brooklyn, apartment on the Sunday evening after the deal was announced and reread it over the following week, including the separate agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. A veto override would be an enormous blow to the president’s prestige. It would torpedo an agreement between Iran and six powers — the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Russia and China — but it would not necessarily lead to the reimposition of crippling economic sanctions on Iran, supporters of the deal warn. With the other world powers supporting the agreement, the international sanctions regime would be likely to crumble, leaving the United States with far less effective tools to cripple Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
With so much on the line, Senate Democrats on the Foreign Relations Committee, such as Mr. Kaine, had hoped to not only rally the 34 senators needed to sustain a presidential veto, but also to possibly keep enough Democrats behind the president to filibuster a resolution of disapproval next month. To do that, they most likely could lose only five Democrats. Mr. Schumer’s break with Mr. Obama will make that far more difficult.
Like many Jewish Democrats, Mr. Schumer approached the agreement under pressure from his constituents, the administration, and his own personal history and faith. He read the agreement for the first time in his Park Slope, Brooklyn, apartment on the Sunday evening after the deal was announced and reread it over the following week, including the separate agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Besides individual meetings with Mr. Obama, Ms. Sherman and Secretary of State John Kerry, Mr. Schumer had three hourlong meetings with members of the negotiating team during which he received answers to 14 pages’ worth of questions on the agreement.
Ultimately, Mr. Schumer wrote his statement on his decision alone in his Senate office with a pen and yellow legal pad.
“I examined this deal in three parts: nuclear restrictions on Iran in the first 10 years, nuclear restrictions on Iran after 10 years, and nonnuclear components and consequences of a deal,” he wrote. “In each case I have asked: Are we better off with the agreement or without it?”
Mr. Schumer said that the inspection regime in the first 10 years of the agreement would be too weak, and that provisions to reimpose sanctions if Iran cheated were too onerous. He said his most serious concerns were with the freedom that Iran would have after 10 years to quickly build a nuclear weapon.
“To me, after 10 years, if Iran is the same nation as it is today, we will be worse off with this agreement than without it,” he said.