Congress to vote on toned-down Iran sanctions bill
Senate bill doesn’t mandate what a nuclear deal should look like, undercutting sanctions opponents.
The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote Jan. 22 on a watered-down Iran sanctions bill.
The bipartisan legislation requires a nuclear deal by this summer but doesn’t mandate what it must look like, greatly improving its chances of getting a veto-proof majority.
The new bill from Sens. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., does away with a series of controversial requirements that critics had initially highlighted as the gravest threat to negotiations. Instead, the new version gradually ramps up sanctions if no deal is reached by July 6, while giving President Barack Obama the ability to waive them indefinitely as long as he certifies that continuing the talks is “likely to result in achieving a long-term comprehensive solution with Iran.”
Advocates of the negotiations acknowledge they face a tough fight getting lawmakers to back off.
