Senate GOP Leader Expects ‘Robust’ Amendment Debate on Iran Nuclear Deal
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he wants to pass a “sensible” bipartisan bill giving Congress the right to review an international nuclear agreement with Iran but made clear he expects lawmakers to introduce a wide variety of amendments to the legislation.
“I still expect to see a vigorous debate this week. I still expect to see a robust amendment process,” McConnell said in a Senate speech before debate on the bill began on Tuesday.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 19-0 last week for a compromise version of the Iran Nuclear Review Act in a rare display of bipartisan unity in the deeply divided Congress.
But some U.S. Republicans have introduced amendments seeking to toughen the bill, raising the possibility of a partisan battle that could complicate the measure’s chances of passing. Many Republicans worry that Democratic President Barack Obama is so eager to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran that he will allow the Tehran government to develop a nuclear weapon.
Before the compromise, Obama had threatened to veto the bill, saying that some of its provisions threatened delicate international negotiations with Iran.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO