Cotton: No regrets over letter to Iran
Kerry: Obama has right to negotiate
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday that he has “no regrets at all” about writing a letter to Iran’s leaders last week that drew criticism that the signing senators had overstepped their role and intruded on foreign policy negotiations.
Cotton’s letter, signed by 46 other Republican senators, warned that without congressional approval, any nuclear-arms deal can be revoked when President Barack Obama leaves office in 2017. The Obama administration has called the letter an unprecedented intrusion into the president’s role to set foreign policy for the United States.
The United States, Iran and five other countries have agreed to finalize a framework for the deal by the end of March, with a
final deadline in June. Negotiations are currently taking place in Geneva.
Such a deal, formally called an executive agreement, wouldn’t be subject to congressional approval and is politically binding, rather than legally binding like a treaty, which does require a vote by the U.S. Senate, according to the State Department.
Congressional approval would be needed to lift sanctions against Iran, which is one of Iran’s top goals in negotiating. Several senators are considering legislation that would require a vote on the final deal.
Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Cotton, of Dardanelle, said the letter was intended to show that Americans won’t support any plan that could lead to Iran creating a nuclear weapon.
“I and 46 other senators are focused on stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and we wanted to be crystal clear that Iran’s leaders got the message that in our constitutional system, while the president negotiates deals, Congress has to approve them for them to be lasting and binding,” Cotton said. “If Congress doesn’t approve a deal, then it may not last, and the deal that is on the table right now is a very bad deal.”
Host Bob Schieffer asked why Cotton sent a letter to Iranian leaders rather than writing an open letter to Americans.
“Iran’s leaders needed to hear the message loud and clear. I can tell you they are not hearing that message from Geneva,” Cotton said.
Cotton said the letter should be used as a negotiating tool.
“The fact that President Obama doesn’t see this letter as a way to get more leverage at the negotiating table just underscores that he is not negotiating for the hardest deal possible,” Cotton said.
Secretary of State John Kerry also appeared on Face the Nation Sunday. He said that while the letter was an attempt to disrupt negotiations, which have been in the works for years and have just weeks left, he hopes it won’t hinder them.
“It specifically inserts itself directly to the leader of another country, saying, ‘Don’t negotiate with these guys because we’re going to change this,’ which by the way is not only contrary to the Constitution with the respect to the executive’s right to negotiate, but it is incorrect because they cannot change an executive agreement,” Kerry said.
Kerry said too many people are judging the deal without knowing what it will actually include.
“Nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to,” Kerry said. “We have to finish our negotiations and we deserve the right to do so, frankly, knowing we have to submit it to the world to judge.”
He said Congress has been thoroughly consulted, noting there have been 205 briefings, phone calls and discussions with members of Congress about the negotiations, 119 of them occurring since January.
Kerry said he had no plans to apologize for the letter when negotiations resumed in Switzerland Sunday night.
“I’m not going to apologize for an unconstitutional, unthought-out action by somebody who’s been in the United States Senate for 60-some days,” he said. “I will explain, very clearly, that Congress does not have the right to change an executive agreement. Another president might have a different view about it.”