An update on arms control, national security, and politics from Council for a Livable World and theCenter for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
What’s News:
A Historic Victory!
This week, with your help, we achieved a victory for the ages. We have defended the Iran deal from attack by the Republican Congress! 42 Senators and 162 Representatives voted to approve the agreement. That’s a whopping 86% of the House Democratic Caucus and 91% of the Senate Democratic Caucus. With no way left for opponents to scrap together the votes needed to pass a resolution of disapproval before the September 17 deadline, Republican plans to scuttle the agreement and put the U.S. on a path to war have all but entirely unraveled. The Republican-led Congress is still determined to prolong this fight, including by threatening to sue the President, all at the cost of other important business such as legislating to avoid a government shutdown. At this point, however, it’s a near certainty that the diplomatic agreement achieved by world powers to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran will indeed take effect. Now, we must turn our focus towards implementation and ensuring that Congress does not pass harmful legislation that could jeopardize the effectiveness of the agreement.
Please view our statement on this momentous achievement.
View our Council Whip List to find out how your Democratic members of Congress cast their historic vote.
Join Us: Live from Boston!
Next week on September 17, Council and Center experts and supporters will gather at the Hampshire House in Boston for a celebration of our victorious defense of the Iran agreement, a look inside Iran today, and a discussion about what happens next. We will feature Center Board Member Ambassador Peter Galbraith, Council Board Member Dr. Jim Walsh of MIT, and Executive Director Angela Canterbury. Many new and longtime friends will be there! Tickets are still on sale! If you cannot attend, please consider supporting the Council and Center’s work by making a contribution. Tax-deductible contributions and tickets are also available from our research organization, the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
Meet our New Fall Interns
Fall has almost arrived, and with it, new interns at the Council and Center. This semester we are excited to have Doug Tomlinson and Iris Hsu with us as fall interns. Read more about them on the Nukes of Hazard Blog!
Watch:
Two Minute Take: Iran Nuclear Agreement
As a part of our efforts to explain to members of Congress and the media the technical elements andbenefits of the Iran nuclear agreement, our staff produced the second edition of our Two Minute Takes video series. Watch it on our YouTube or FaceBook page:
Read:
(Even More) Real Facts
As new arguments against the Iran agreement have emerged, Council and Center staff continue to update the Real Facts on the Iran Nuclear Agreement factsheet in order to dispel myths andmisinformation surrounding this important agreement. See what’s new in our latest edition of this factsheet.
How to Keep the Iran Deal Healthy
In a recent op-ed for Foreign Affairs magazine, Center Board Chair Lt. Gen. Robert Gard urges the U.S. to heed lessons from the failed negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program when implementing the Iran nuclear agreement. Read his piece on our website.
Not the Content, but the President
“The overwhelming Republican vote expected against the agreement to stem Iran’s nuclear arms program sits securely with this history of partisan Republican votes on arms agreements. It is not the content that is important; it is the president,” writes Senior Fellow John Isaacs in his latest op-ed for The Hill. Read it here.
Why MOPs are Flops
As defeat drew near, opponents of diplomacy with Iran shifted focused to arguing for additional military support for Israel in the form of Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs (MOPs). Center Board Member Ed Levine explains in this analysis why this move would be risky, unwise, and in possible violation a few international treaties. Read Ed’s analysis on our website.
Quantity over Quality at the Pentagon
With both chambers back in session this week, Congress has less than one month to pass a final budget and ultimately avoid a government shutdown come October 1st. Research and Policy Associate Sarah Tully gives us an end-of-summer update on this looming budget debate in Congress and what the outcome might spell for funding U.S. national defense. Read it on the Nukes of Hazard blog.
Taking The Easy Vote
With a handful of Democratic members of Congress making the disappointing choice to oppose diplomacy with Iran, Council Board Member Daniel Wirls explains in his most recent piece for Reuterswhy it’s (sadly) sometimes politically safest to vote for war and against diplomacy. Read the piece on our website.
Signing On to Support Diplomacy
Over the past weeks, the Council and Center have been a part of many letters compiled in an effort to demonstrate the expert consensus in support of the Iran nuclear agreement. Here are the letters we have helped to organize or joined in the past few weeks:
- 75 former members of Congress, Republican and Democratic, publicly backed the agreement in this letter to Congress. Council for a Livable World proudly endorsed 33 of these members andhelped to coordinate the signatories.
- Angela Canterbury joined 70 other prominent women in signing this letter in support of the agreement.
- 70 national organizations from all strides, including the Council and Center, urged Congress to support the agreement in this letter.
- Council for a Livable World, along with our partners at J-Street, organized a letter of prominent political donors who support the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Iran. View it on our website.
The Cardin Compendium
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), one of the few Democrats to oppose the Iran nuclear agreement, has introduced legislation that could very well undermine the result of years of painstaking negotiations.Read the in-depth analysis of Sen. Cardin’s legislation from Council senior fellow John Isaacs.
Be Social:
Check out our top tweets from the past few weeks. Be sure to re-tweet!
