Sens. Boozman, Cotton Vote To Break Cloture On Iran Deal, But Vote Fails

A pair of cloture votes Thursday drew the support of Arkansas’ two United States Senators, but fell short of passage.

Senators voted 56-42 on a bill against a nuclear deal with Iran; and 53-45 on a bill to “prohibit the President from waiving, suspending, reducing, providing relief from, or otherwise limiting the application of sanctions pursuant to an agreement related to the nuclear program of Iran.”

Sens. John Boozman, R-Ark. and Tom Cotton, R-Ark., voted yes on both bills, which failed to pass due to 60 votes needed to break cloture.

Both senators said the decision to continue cloture was in the hands of Democrats.

“I’ve said from the onset that a nuclear Iran would be devastating for America and our allies. Our goal then must be to prevent that from happening. If Minority Leader Reid is so confident that this deal is the answer, then he should be working to get it through the Senate instead of denying Americans a vote. This agreement is not the right answer. It’s a bad deal. It won’t help us achieve our objective of keeping Iran from going nuclear,” Boozman said. “Instead of trying to protect President Obama from a difficult veto, Minority Leader Reid should focus on trying to keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran’s hands. He might think this deal is the right one, but millions of Americans don’t. They deserved a vote.”

When reached for comment Thursday, Cotton spokesman Caroline Rabbitt reiterated the statement made by Sen. Cotton on Tuesday about the issue.

“From the beginning, President Obama intended to turn our constitutional process on its head and implement this deal via executive action, as he has done in the past with his overreaching EPA regulations and his immigration decrees. He never wanted a vote on his Iran deal because he was afraid—afraid of the bipartisan opposition to the deal and afraid that only his veto pen would save a nuclear agreement riddled with outrageous concessions to the ayatollahs in Tehran,” Cotton said. “That a partisan minority of legislators would obstruct a vote on a grave issue of national security is unconscionable, and out of step with the proud traditions of the Senate. It illustrates that 42 Senate Democrats care more about protecting the political fortunes of a lame-duck president than they do about exercising their duties as representatives of the people.”

“I opposed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act for many reasons. First, it acquiesced to President Obama’s refusal to submit the agreement as a treaty for the Senate’s advice and consent. Second, and in any event, it failed to ensure an up-or-down vote on the deal by Congress. Regrettably, this illusory oversight now makes it almost inevitable that this deal will move forward, despite overwhelming and bipartisan opposition to it in Congress and the clear will of the American people.”

According to Reuters, senators had until Thursday night to approve a resolution of disapproval on the issue.

Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said the vote was a “cynical show vote.”

“The issue has been decided,” Reid told CNN.com. “But instead of focusing on the critical issue of funding our government, Sen. McConnell has decided to spend the entire week on something that’s already been decided, twice.”

However, there has been a threat of legal action from lawmakers on the issue. Lawmakers have said that the Obama administration did not follow federal law in notifying Congress of any side agreements involving the Iran deal. Skeptics of the legal challenge contend that it would take years for legal machinations to reach the U.S. Supreme Court and would likely be irrelevant to the situation by the time it is resolved.