Rubio sticking by Iran amendments

Marco Rubio is refusing to back down from his fight to force Iran to recognize Israel, a stance that threatens to disrupt a delicately negotiated bipartisan bill that would allow Congress to review any nuclear deal with Tehran.

In an interview on Wednesday afternoon, the Florida senator and GOP presidential candidate said he has no plans to forgo his amendments to the bill, the most controversial of which would require Iran to acknowledge Israel’s statehood and present a tough vote for both parties.


If that vote takes place on the Senate floor, Democrats in particular would be caught between wanting to appear strong on Israel issues and deferring to President Barack Obama, who may revive his veto threat if the measure is significantly amended.

“We’re going to get a vote. We’re going to get a vote,” Rubio said as he walked into a Republican Party lunch on Wednesday afternoon.

Rubio also indicated he would not stop there: Among his seven amendments are several other politically charged proposals, including one demanding the release of Americans held in Iran, another requiring that the president submit any United Nations proposals to Congress, and one to keep nonnuclear economic sanctions being imposed on Iran.

“I want a vote on all of my amendments,” Rubio said when asked how he would prioritize them.

He then took to the floor Wednesday afternoon and sparred with an angry Sen. Ben Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Rubio tried to secure a vote on the Israel amendment, only to be blocked by the Maryland senator, who pointedly called Rubio’s amendment a “poison pill” and said it would unravel the agreement he reached with Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). The White House said it would accept the Corker-Cardin compromise but has warned against any changes to the measure.

Rubio seemed unmoved by Cardin’s argument that his proposal could effectively prevent Congress from ever being able to weigh in on the Iran deal. He explained that he withheld offering his amendment in committee in deference to Corker and Cardin but said he would not do so again on the Senate floor.

“I appreciate the senator from Maryland’s passion,” Rubio said. “But I want a vote on the amendment.”

On the Senate floor Wednesday evening, a large group of a dozen GOP senators huddled in a long, animated discussion over the bill, how it works and the way forward. A stone-cold serious Corker was facing Rubio directly, with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) standing nearby. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his chief foreign policy aide repeatedly had to intervene to clarify the process of the bill.

The discussion grew so loud that Laura Dove, McConnell’s chief floor aide, told Republican senators to quiet down so reporters would not overhear the conversation. One senator later said the discussion was mainly focused on the process for how the complicated bill works.

Some Republicans who want to see legislation passed are wary of Rubio’s move on Israel with Graham arguing the amendment could “unravel the coalition” backing the bill.

Graham said he’d vote against Rubio’s Israel amendment on the Senate floor if he felt that was the only way to keep the legislation on track to be signed by the president.

“I don’t think anybody is going to accuse Lindsey Graham of being anti-Israel,” Graham said. “I’ve been working for a year … to put this coalition together. And failure is not an option.”

But GOP leaders appear to siding with Rubio. So far, they have not moved to orchestrate Republicans to vote against problematic amendments, and they did not twist arms to bring down a proposal from Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to treat an Iran deal like a treaty, thereby requiring two-thirds of the Senate to approve. Another proposal, which would have required the United States to certify that Iran is not sponsoring terrorism against the U.S., failed on Wednesday evening, 45-54, not by the whopping opposition that many of the bill’s Democratic proponents were hoping for.

“We ought to have as many votes on as many amendments as we can,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “There’s a lot of interest in this topic, as there should be. This is very serious business, and other senators want to offer their ideas.”

In the interview after the party lunch, Rubio shrugged off private and public pleas from his colleagues to withhold a vote on the Israel amendment. He said those who want to avoid tough votes should not have become senators. He also blasted Democrats who have pleaded with Republicans to block any potentially troublesome amendments that are brought to the floor.

“Do Democrats not support Israel?” he said. Asked whether his proposal could blow up a bill that passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee 19-0, Rubio responded: “I don’t see why it would.”

Still, Rubio has yet to lock in votes on his proposals after missing much of Tuesday’s Senate session — and as he left the floor, it was not clear when, or if, he would get that vote. Rubio could grind the chamber to a halt if he wanted to, though he indicated he’s open to waiting for a vote as long as he gets it.

“I respect the arguments that others make about why they can’t support it and what they think it will ultimately do to the process. All I’m asking for is votes,” Rubio said. “Then everyone is free to vote the way they want and for the reason they want.”

Corker said ahead of the lunch he had tried to connect with Rubio by telephone to discuss the proposal, which could be the undoing of Corker’s bill, but had been unable to reach his colleague. Corker expressed confidence he could rebuff the most damaging amendments but admitted the road ahead is uncertain.

“I don’t want to predict. I mean, look, I take it a day at time,” Corker told reporters. “I hope we’re going to end up with a bill that will become law, and that’s the goal.”

Rubio said later Wednesday afternoon that he and Corker had begun talking through the amendment.

Democrats are trusting that Corker can either persuade his colleague to withhold the proposal or marshal a large majority to vote it down. Democrats carried the load in rejecting Johnson’s proposal on Wednesday, and they don’t want a similar result on a vote that could be presented by the GOP as a litmus test on support for Israel.

“You’d better ask Sen. Corker; he’s said he’s going to block all killer amendments. Go talk to him,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) when asked how he’d like to see Rubio’s proposal handled.

One factor that may be working in Corker’s favor is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s opposition to any amendments to the Iran review bill. That could provide sufficient cover for a majority of senators to vote down Rubio’s Israel amendment, but it’s still not a vote that Democrats want to take.

Cardin said he hopes Rubio works out his issues with the bill ahead of time rather than forcing the issue on the floor.

“The outside groups are validating what I’m saying: that this would be counterproductive to Israel. It would actually hurt Israel because it would make it give us less of a chance to get a nuclear agreement with Iran that would prevent them from becoming a nuclear weapons state, which is critically important to Israel,” Cardin said. “Sen. Rubio, I know, wants this bill to hit the finish line. So, I hope he would work with us.”

Manu Raju contributed to this report.

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