Dems to McConnell: Pass ‘clean’ extension of Iran sanctions
Senate Democrats are demanding Majority Leader Mitch McConnell bring up a straight 10-year extension of key Iran sanctions once lawmakers return to Washington next month.
Seven Democrats — led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) — sent a letter to the Kentucky Republican asking that he “prioritize” a clean extension of the Iran Sanctions Act during the Senate’s end-of-year session.
{mosads}”Passing this vital legislation before its expiration is crucial to ensuring with the utmost certainty that the United States will continue to have the sanctions enforcement mechanism our national security demands,” they wrote in Wednesday’s letter, a copy of which was also sent to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) who chairs the Banking Committee.
McConnell said last year that any Iran proposal would need to have 67 votes — enough to overcome a potential veto — before he would allow it to get floor time.
The Iran Sanctions Act will expire at the end of the year without congressional action. Though there is wide-spread support for extending ISA, lawmakers are deeply divided over what should be included in an extension.
Top Democrats, including Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sens. Charles Schumer (N.Y.) and Ben Cardin (Md.), introduced an extension that would run through 2026 earlier the year.
Meanwhile, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) introduced a separate proposal that would let the Iran Sanctions Act expire after approximately eight years if Iran complies with the nuclear deal.
Republicans want to tie the ISA extension to broader penalties against Iran amid lingering fallout over last year’s separate nuclear agreement with Iran, and a string of recent missile tests by that country.
A proposal backed by Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, as well as GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), and Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) and Bob Menendez (N.J.) — who both opposed the nuclear agreement — would extend the sanctions for 10 years.
It would also include mandatory new sanctions and limitations on a president’s ability to use national security waivers. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) separately tied an extension to sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Cardin told reporters last month that while he thinks lawmakers will be able to come to do a deal there’s a “risk factor” to waiting until the lame-duck session to try to move the sanctions extension.
“There’s a risk factor that the leadership may not want it to go by itself, and they might very well put it with other provisions that may be unacceptable,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest in Congress to deal with Iran, and if that holds up that debate and we’re in lame-duck session then it’s possible everything could fall.”
Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow (Mich.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), and Brian Schatz (Hawaii) also signed Wednesday’s letter.
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