Votes to Prohibit President from Easing Sanctions

WASHINGTON– Calling the President’s proposed nuclear agreement with Iran a ‘terrible deal’ for U.S. national security interests and underscoring that it would not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) voted today against the measure. Tipton also voted on a bill to prohibit the President from easing sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program through 2017, as well as for a resolution laying the groundwork for a legal challenge to stop the President from moving forward for failing to disclose to Congress side agreements to the Iran deal as required by Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.

The President is facing numerous legal challenges to his administration’s overreach. He was dealt a major blow this week when the United States District Court for the District of Columbia’s ruled that “The House of Representatives has standing to pursue its allegations that the Secretaries of Health and Human Services and of the Treasury violated Article I, § 9, cl. 7 of the Constitution when they spent public monies that were not appropriated by the Congress.” The House filed the lawsuit against the President’s unilateral changes to Obamacare in November of 2014.

“The purpose of the proposed agreement should above all else be to ensure that Iran—the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism that has funded the bloodshed of Americans and our allies — is prohibited from building nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would further destabilize the Middle East and pose a grave threat to our allies and U.S. interests. Yet this agreement does not give inspectors free access to Iran’s nuclear sites, and provides Iran the opportunity to adopt an industrial scale nuclear program because the key restrictions to prohibit the development of technology to make a bomb sunset in a mere 10-15 years. All the while the agreement provides Iran with increased economic resources through eased sanctions. Just this week, Ayatollah Khamenei threatened that our ally Israel will not survive the next 25 years and called the U.S. the ‘Great Satan.’ Expecting that Iran will act in good faith under this weak deal is naïve, reckless and dangerous,” said Tipton. “Many Americans are opposed to this deal, which is reflected in the bipartisan opposition to it in both bodies of Congress, including from leaders in both parties. The President and a handful of Senate Democrats are attempting to move forward against the will of the American people. The deal must be stopped, and we are doing everything constitutionally possible in the House to make that happen. The Senate needs to do the same.”

Summary of the votes taken in the House this week on Iran (courtesy of the Whip’s Office):

H. Res. 411 (Tipton voted YES, Passed the House) states that the President did not comply with section 2 of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was transmitted to Congress.

• INARA requires the President to transmit to Congress a nuclear agreement with Iran, which includes all additional materials, including annexes, appendices, codicils, side agreements, and implementing materials made between Iran and the United States and any other parties.
• The JCPOA references a “Roadmap for Clarification of Past and Present Outstanding Issues regarding Iran’s Nuclear Program” that identifies two separate, confidential agreements between the IAEA and Iran.
• These separate side agreements were not submitted to Congress on July 19, 2015 and therefore, the period for Congressional review provided by INARA has not commenced.

H.R. 3460 (Tipton voted YES, Passed the House) suspends the President’s authority to waive, suspend, reduce, provide relief from, or limit the application of sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program until January 21, 2017.

• The president cannot refrain from applying any sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program.
• This legislation specifically includes sanctions and listed persons included in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

H.R. 3461 (Tipton voted NO, Rejected by the House) approves the nuclear agreement with Iran.