MUST READ!!! Kansas City Congressman Cleaver Stands Up For Prez Obama Iran Deal!!!

An important endorsement from Kansas City's top elected official that strangely addresses antisemitism and the prospect of war . . .

Congressman Cleaver’s Statement on Iran Agreement

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, II (MO-05) released the following statement regarding Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action:

“Like everything else in contemporary Washington, discussion of the P5+1 agreement with Iran has not been a noteworthy debate about policy, but rather a worthless exercise in Lilliputian politics. I have heard it all: if a member supports the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), he or she is anti-Semitic or a self-hating Jew. On the other hand, if a Member concludes that the agreement is too indigestible to support, he or she is a war monger.

“When it became apparent that the House of Representatives would take a vote on the P5+1 agreement, I began to evaluate the available information and discuss the issue with many groups and individuals with strong feelings on the Iranian nuclear deal. After a review of classified information and a discussion with President Barack Obama, I began to develop my own list of pluses and minuses. I even self-interrogated whether my decision making process was sufficient for the high stakes vote.

“My decision is to support the agreement and, if necessary, I will vote to sustain the President’s veto of that resolution. I am as comfortable with this decision as any I have previously made.
“The manner in which this agreement has been handled by the Legislative Branch has been unprecedented, unbecoming, and unsafe. Forty-seven members of the U.S. Senate sent a letter to the Iranian regime claiming that a deal with the President would be short-lived because the next president would shred such an agreement on his or her first day in office. Nothing equivalent to the actions of these 47 Republican Senators has occurred in modern U.S. History. I have had great difficulty believing that the missive of the Republican 47 to our adversary was intended to do anything but humiliate the President and diminish his credibility around the globe. Politics are tricky; the law of unintended consequences is often triggered when a legislative action is designed to negatively impact a specific President by imprisoning the Presidency as an institution.

“The invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to speak before a joint session of Congress without discussing the matter with the White House, out of courtesy, brought the nation another first. Mr. Netanyahu exploited the political tribalism of the 114th Congress by accepting the invitation and added his speech to the list of insults hurled at the President.

“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, I will monitor, along with many other Members of Congress, the conduct of Iran as it relates to this agreement and will not hesitate to consider any and all options, including military action if there are violations. However, if Congress thumbs its nose at an agreement negotiated jointly by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1), why would any world leader arbitrate with the leader of the free world in the future?

“There is absolutely no evidence that any of the P5+1 participants would return to the negotiating table if the U.S. Congress aborts the agreement they found acceptable. In fact, British Ambassador Peter Westmacott responded to those who suggest a return to the negotiating table as ‘farfetched’. Germany’s Philipp Ackermann said that ‘the option of getting back to the negotiating table is close to zero’.

“This agreement has some flaws and is not perfect, but if we demand perfection, we are denying the essential qualities of negotiation and international engagement.”

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