Already a done deal in Congress, the Iran nuclear agreement is gaining more momentum.
Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz revealed to CNN’s Jake Tapper this morning that after lots of struggling and uncertainty, she’s voting in favor of the Iran deal.
Wasserman Schultz, whose Florida congressional district is heavily Jewish, faced intense lobbying on both sides and said during an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that her decision-making process was “gut-wrenching”.
“I put that story in front of them and I said, ‘If this is true, I am a no, ‘” the Florida congresswoman said, adding the officials assured her there would be no self-inspection.
Obama only needs one-third of one house of Congress to ensure passage of the accord – the minimum necessary to uphold a presidential veto. If it were, she said, it would have been a deal-breaker.
“I have subsequently come to the conclusion that the agreement promotes the national security interests of the United States and our allies and merits my vote of support…” she wrote. “Make no mistake: this is an American national security issue”.
Wasserman Schultz collected input from both supporters and critics of the deal, including political leaders, non-proliferation experts and Jewish organizations.
“It’s a pretty good deal”, Powell said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
In addition to speaking with Obama and Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, Wasserman Schultz spoke with Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer, who grew up in Miami Beach. And she or he stated supporters had been accused of abandoning Israel and their religion. Ultimately, however, she said she reached her decision based on “the conclusion that we can not now get a better deal, as I was unable to find a credible source to say otherwise”.