Sen. Cruz’s anti-Iran amendment blocked
Republican Sen. Ted Cruz has been prevented from offering an amendment to a bill which would ban the Obama administration from implementing the Iran nuclear accord.
During a voice vote on Monday, the presidential hopeful could not receive the necessary support from his colleagues for the amendment and thus was blocked from linking the Iran nuclear agreement and a one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood to a government funding bill.
In addition to placing a one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, Cruz’s amendment would prevent President Barack Obama from using funds from the short-term bill to go ahead with the Iran nuclear deal or any "assessed contributions" to the United Nations until US lawmakers receive the "side deals" between Tehran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The "side deals" have been a major source of contention among those who oppose the deal, including Cruz and other Republicans.
The Texas Sen. along with other Republicans have said that the 60-day congressional review period for the Iran accord has not begun because the Obama administration has not given lawmakers the agreements.
The administration has asserted that it does not have the IAEA documents, but has sent senior officials to the Capitol to discuss the deals with lawmakers.
Cruz criticized Republican leadership following the procedural back-and-forth, noting that they repeatedly "surrender" to Obama.
"You know, President Obama has negotiated a catastrophic nuclear deal with Iran. Republican leadership goes on television all the time and rightly says this is a catastrophic deal," he said. "I would suggest that if we actually believed the words that are coming out of their mouths, then we should be willing to use any and all constitutional authorities."
Senator Cruz has recently emerged as a strong supporter of Israel and an outspoken opponent of the Iran nuclear accord, reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.
Under the agreement, Iran has been recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program, but some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions.
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