Pictured are United States President Barack Obama (wearing blue suit and no eyeglasses), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky (R-KY) (wearing blue suit and eyeglasses), and U.S. Representative Marcia L. Fudge of Ohio (D-OH)
By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and the Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper and Newspaper Blog. Tel: 216-659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Coleman is a 22-year political, legal and investigative journalist who trained for 17 years, and under six different editors, at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. (www.clevelandurbannews.com) /
(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com).
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Led by Congressional Democrats, the U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked a disapproval resolution pushed by Senate Republicans that would have scrapped the Iran Nuclear Deal negotiated by President Barack Obama that lifts crippling sanctions against Iran, places a variable freeze on sensitive nuclear materials for at least a decade, and prevents the middle eastern country from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Per a law adopted by Congress in May, federal lawmakers have until Sept. 17 to disapprove of the deal by resolution, a measure that, unlike a typical majority vote, requires a 60 percent majority, or 60 of the 100 U.S senators.
The nuclear weapons deal, in which the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, led by the United States, seek to end a twelve-year crisis over Iran's suspicious nuclear work, is opposed by Republican congressional leaders, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Senate, on Tuesday, voted 56-42 for the disapproval resolution, but fail four votes shy of the 60 percent majority needed to win the vote that would have derailed, or at least stalled, the controversial foreign policy legislation that will define Obama's presidency in coming years.
The Senate rejected a similar measure on Sept 10.
“I am heartened that so many senators judged this deal on the merits, and am gratified by the strong support of lawmakers and citizens alike,” Obama said in a press statement to Cleveland Urban News.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspaper.
And while on Sept 11, a day after the Senate's first vote of rejection on the disproval resolution, members of the U.S. Representatives voted 269-162 against approving the nuclear agreement, and also voted 247-186 to prevent Obama from lifting economic sanctions against Iran, both bills are expected to die in the House since the Senate is not expected to take up the measures.
Republicans control both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
All of the Democrats from Ohio supported the deal, including Congresswomen Marcia L. Fudge, a Warrenville Heights Democrat, Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Joyce Beatty of Columbus, and Tim Ryan of Niles. And so did Sen. Sherrod Brown of Cleveland.
Fudge and Beatty are the only two Blacks in Congress from Ohio, a pivotal state for presidential elections.
“The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action is the strongest option we have to prevent Iran from continuing its nuclear weapons program," said Fudge, whose largely Black 11th congressional district includes the majority Black major American city of Cleveland and several of its eastern suburbs. "I agree Iran may not be trustworthy, but with the safeguards put in place through this agreement, it is appropriate to give peace and diplomacy a chance."
Fudge said that she will continue to work with her colleagues in Congress, the administration, and international partners to "ensure full implementation of and compliance with the terms of this JCPOA.”
Republicans representing Ohio's congressional delegation, including House Speaker John Boehner, and Sen. Rob Portman of Cincinnati, voted against the deal.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who is leading efforts against the deal in the Senate, has vowed to continue the fight, and said Tuesday that he will offer another congressional measure on Thursday in another attempt to block Obama from lifting sanctions against Iran relative to the deal.
McConnell has said that he will not back down unless Tehran, the capital of Iran, releases American hostages, and recognizes Israel's "right to exist."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of California said yesterday that "the Republicans have lost."
Formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal is one of the most comprehensive measures reached in several decades and follows a change in Iranian leadership since 2013 when Iranian President Hassan Rouhani ousted longtime president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel since 2009, and who won reelection to the religious state on March 17 of this year, spoke to a joint session of Congress on March 3, and said then that the nuclear deal is too lenient, and lacks adequate safeguards.
Obama did not attend the speech, which was arranged by House Speaker Boehner and denounced by Congressional Democrats, saying it was "politically motivated."
Netanyahu denied that his speech was hinged on political posturing, and said that he meant no disrespect of America's first Black president.
"My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama or the office that he holds. I have great respect for both," Netanyahu told thousands of activists at a pro-Israel lobby AIPAC's annual conference shortly before his speech to Congress in March that several congressional Democrats, including Congresswomen Fudge, Beatty and Kaptur, boycotted.www.clevelandurbannews.com) /
(www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com).
