Key senators huddle with UN Security Council
Sens. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) and Ben Cardin (D-Md.) met with members of the United Nations Security Council on Monday as part of an effort to bolster cooperation between the U.S. government and the international organization.
Corker and Cardin, the top two members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, discussed a range of national security issues with members of the council, including the current fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Iran nuclear deal and the humanitarian crisis in Syria, according to a readout of the meeting.
{mosads}Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., said the discussion with the two senators was “lively” and “frank.”
The meeting comes less than a week after the two senators pledged to maintain “rigorous” oversight of the Iran nuclear deal, including requesting that top administration officials be available to testify before the committee. President Obama earned bipartisan backlash earlier this year when the U.N. Security Council voted on the Iran agreement while Congress was still reviewing the deal.
They also discussed the Foreign Relations Committee’s role in U.S. foreign policy, as well as the need for greater international cooperation.
In addition to meeting with representatives from the five countries permanently on the Security Council — the U.S., United Kingdom, France, Russia and China — Corker and Cardin also meet with representatives from Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay, which will be joining the council next year.
A representative for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. said earlier Monday that the council’s visit to Washington, including the meeting with the two senators, was part of an effort to establish “better cooperation between the United States government and its partners on the Council.”
Security Council members are also expected to meet with National Security Advisor Susan Rice and top officials at the State Department and Defense Department while in Washington.
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