WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and co-sponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act was joined by co-sponsors Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Bill Nelson (D-FL), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Angus King (I-ME), as well as Democratic Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD), Chris Coons (D-DE), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), in sending the following letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to object to the partisan handling of the bill which defies regular order by bypassing the committee process and going directly to the Senate Floor for debate and vote.
The letter can be found below and here.
The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Majority Leader of the United States Senate
317 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Majority Leader McConnell:
As supporters of S. 615, the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, we object to you bypassing the committee process by bringing this bipartisan legislation—under a new bill number—directly to the floor for debate and a vote outside of the regular order of the Senate.
On a day defined by serious discourse about Iran's illicit nuclear weapons program, at a moment when legislators are contemplating the most serious national security issue of our time, we are disappointed that you have proceeded outside of regular order which suggests that the goal of this maneuver is to score partisan political points, rather than pursue a substantive strategy to counter Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The deadline for a political framework agreement with Iran is March 24 and a final agreement is not expected to be reached until the end of June. There is no immediate or urgent need to circumvent the Committee process and we are disappointed that you’ve pursued this partisan course of action.
We remain committed to working on this bill in a bipartisan manner. As such, and as a result of your actions, we will only vote for this bill after it has gone through the regular mark-up process in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and after the March 24th deadline for the political framework agreement.
Sincerely,
Robert Menendez
United States Senator
Tim Kaine
United States Senator
Heidi Heitkamp
United States Senator
Bill Nelson
United States Senator
Joe Donnelly
United States Senator
Angus S. King, Jr.
United States Senator
Benjamin L. Cardin
United States Senator
Christopher A. Coons
United States Senator
Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator
Richard Blumenthal
United States Senator
###