Led by War Heroes Representatives Mike Gallagher and Michael Waltz Over 175 Republican Congressmen and Women Set the Biden Administration and Iran Straight on US Law and on the Consequences of not Submitting Impending Deal for Congressional Review.
Pictured left to right:
Congressman Mike Gallagher who served for seven years on active duty in the United States Marine Corps, including two deployments to Iraq - and as the lead Republican staffer for the Middle East and Counterterrorism on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mike earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a second in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, and a PhD in International Relations from Georgetown.
Congressman Mike Waltz who has served his country his entire life. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute, has served over 24 years in the U.S. Army, and is presently serving in the National Guard. After being commissioned as an Army lieutenant, Mike graduated Ranger School and was then selected for the elite Green Berets, serving worldwide as a decorated Special Forces officer with multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa. For his actions in combat, Mike was awarded 4 Bronze Stars and 2 with valor. He is the first Green Beret to be elected to Congress. During his time in Afghanistan, Mike led the teams searching for deserter Pvt. Bowe Berghdal. Mike was one of the first to call into question then-President Obama’s labeling of Berghdal as a hero and has continued to lead call for justice on behalf of all the service-members Berghdal’s desertion put in harm's way. Mike’s servant leadership continued in the Pentagon as a defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates. Mike then went on to serve in the White House.
Rob Malley, a controversial figure , pictured with his mentor John Kerry in the midst of negotiating the 2015 Nuclear Deal which respected experts on both sides of the aisle have agreed is fundamentally flawed. Three members of Biden's negotiation team have resigned in frustration from the negotiations in Vienna and only Malley remains. Kerry has been held suspect for his very close relationship with former Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif .
February 17, 2017
We extend our profound gratitude to Representatives Gallagher and Waltz and all of the members of Congress who sent a compelling letter to President Biden. We urge every Senator and Member of Congress to join these leaders - and vow to work feverishly to unseat those who do not.
At stake is our security, our liberty and our values. We will not give in and we will not give up.
The letter reminded President Biden of his legal and Constitutional obligations to submit any agreement reached in Vienna to the United States Congress for review.
The group - led by two of America's military heroes - also apprised Biden of their intentions to combat his appeasement and capitulation. They promised and to do everything in their power to stop the financing of Iran's murder and mayhem; to ensure a deal which truly prevents Iran from developing nuclear weapons and to hold the regime accountable for its aggression and terrorism.
Unfortunately the propagandist echo chamber is setting the stage for the impending de ja vu disaster - once again disingenuously presenting the choice as the impending "bad deal" or war. The letter reiterated the common sense view that a good deal could be attained by resurrecting the maximum pressure campaign - tightening and enforcing sanctions to regain leverage and demanding the longer and stronger deal that was promised by the Biden team. This is a position that has been espoused on both sides of the aisle - including the Democratic leader of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Robert Menendez.
The letter provides (highlights provided by Stop Iran Now for emphasis):
"In recent days, news out of Vienna suggests the Iranian regime is demanding a "guarantee"
that U.S. sanctions will never be reimposed so long as they comply with the terms of an agreement regarding their illicit nuclear program.
As duly elected representatives of American citizens across the United States, sent to Washington to check and balance the executive branch as established by the separation of powers in our Constitution, we feel compelled to remind you that you do not have the power to provide any such "guarantee."
Indeed, if you forge an agreement with the Supreme Leader of Iran without formal Congressional approval, it will be temporary and non-binding and will meet the same fate as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). If you continue to ignore Congress, thereby repeating the mistakes of the Obama Administration with the JCPOA, we can guarantee the following:
1) We will oppose any agreement that lifts U.S. sanctions on the Iranian regime without first verifying they have fully accounted for all past and present undeclared nuclear activities, fully dismantled their enrichment and reprocessing-related infrastructure and capabilities, verifiably ended all research and development on nuclear-capable missiles and fullydismantled all existing nuclear-capable missiles, verifiably halted all sponsorship of terrorism, released all American hostages and paid U.S. federal court judgements owed to theAmerican victims of terrorism sponsored by the Iranian regime.
2) We will view any agreement reached in Vienna which is not submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification as a treaty- including any and all secret agreements made with Iran directly or on the sidelines of official talks- as non-binding.
3) We will demand that any such agreement be submitted to Congress pursuant to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, and we will use the law's 30-day review period to warn our colleagues, the American public and the private sector about any dangers and flaws of such an agreement.
4) We will work tirelessly to reimpose and strengthen any terrorism, missile or human rights sanctions lifted, suspended or otherwise weakened by such an agreement-including terrorism: sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Iran and the National Iranian Oil Company.
5) We will oppose any attempt to rescind the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization and will work to expand U.S. sanctions on all government entities, banks, companies and individuals connected to the IRGC.
6) We will work to invoke the snapback provision of UN Security Council Resolution 2231, including the enactment of sanctions targeting the supply of arms or missiles to Iran, any enrichment-related activity by Iran and any research and development on ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
7) As part of our legislative oversight responsibility, we will investigate any connections between the negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s illicit nuclear program—in which we are relying upon the Russians as our intermediary because the Iranians refuse to negotiate with us directly—and the negotiations with the Russians regarding their invasion of Ukraine. If your dependency on the Russians to revive the JCPOA is weakening our deterrent posture with the Russians in other areas of the world, the American people deserve to know.
The Iranian regime brutally represses, persecutes, tortures, and murders its own people. It wastes the Iranian people’s resources on terrorism, foreign aggression, missiles and nuclear weapons capabilities. We hope to see the day where all U.S. sanctions on Iran can be lifted, when the U.S. and Iran can enjoy normalized relations, and when the people of Iran have a government that respects human dignity. But that day will not come if you provide sanctions relief that will fuel the regime’s corruption and incompetence at the expense of the Iranian people. We urge you to change course, learn from the first JCPOA’s failures, and work with Congress to impose maximum pressure on the Iranian regime. "
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