Cory Booker makes it 35.
Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey
announced Thursday that he, too, will support the nuclear agreement with Iran. And Sen. Mark Warner
did likewise. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp also
said she will support the agreement:
Mr. Booker’s decision ended weeks of speculation over whether he would back an agreement that has divided the Jewish community in his region. Many Democratic lawmakers in the New Jersey and New York area have opted to oppose the accord, including Sen. Bob Menendez (D., N.J.) and Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, expected to [be] the next Senate Democratic leader. New York’s junior senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, supports the deal.
“Both those who support this deal and those who oppose it have reasonable arguments as to why their chosen path is the right one,” Mr. Booker said in a statement Thursday, but he said “it is better to support a deeply flawed deal, for the alternative is worse.”
Mr. Booker made clear in his long analysis of the agreement that he found many of its provisions problematic and that he would seek to keep pressure on Iran.
Here's Heitkamp:
"Sanctions only work if our allies maintain their sanctions as well — which is unlikely if the United States is seen as unilaterally walking away from a deal our allies are convinced makes the world safer," Heitkamp continued.
"If we reject this deal, Iran will be closer to developing a nuclear weapon, and we will reduce our standing and authority in the world," she said.
Here's Warner:
"While I believe there are several areas of concern with the agreement, the choice I ultimately had to make was between accepting an imperfect deal, or facing the serious ramifications if Congress rejected a deal that has the support of the rest of the world," he added.
“This agreement is just the beginning, and not the end, of our combined international efforts to keep Iran free of nuclear weapons.”
Such criticisms have been typical of many of the Democratic senators who have backed the agreement.
On Wednesday, Sen. Barbara Mikulski of Maryland became the 34th senator to favor the agreement. That gave President Obama enough votes to sustain a veto of any Republican-led attempt to pass a resolution of disapproval. The White House wants to get 41 Democrats pledged to support the agreement. That would be enough to filibuster any vote and keep a resolution from reaching the president's desk. But even having 41 senators in favor would not necessarily mean 41 would join a filibuster.
See more commentary below the fold.
Join us in urging the Senate Democrats who have not yet done so to declare in favor of the Iran nuclear agreement.
In addition to Booker, Warner and Heitkamp, several more House Democrats have come out in favor of the agreement, bringing the total supporters to 99. Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has been running an effort over the past six weeks to get enough Democratic representatives to sustain a veto in the House, is now assured of her goal of 100 supporters before Labor Day.
Meanwhile, Jim Lobe notes that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a pro-Israel lobby, is pondering "Plan B" in opposition to the agreement. That is "aimed chiefly at those Democrats who feel queasy about their decision to support the White House and vote against the pending resolution to reject" the agreement.
Lobe says:
A summary of a draft bill, which I obtained from a source who asked to remain anonymous, is circulating that is designed (almost certainly by AIPAC) to appeal to those Democrats eager to “kiss and make up” after their defiance of the most powerful Israel lobby group (whose reputation for omnipotence just took a very heavy hit) and its donors. Although most of the bill appears to be innocuous and consistent with the administration’s own intentions, it also contains a number of “poison pills,” which, if approved, appear calculated to raise new obstacles to implementation and Tehran’s confidence that the U.S. will fully comply with both the spirit and the letter of the JCPOA.
You can read what he says is the text of what is now a very fluid draft at the link.
Here are the seven Senate Democrats who have not yet declared how they stand.
Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.)
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.)
Sen. Ben Cardin (Md.)
Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.)
Sen. Ron Wyden (Ore.)
Sen. Maria Cantwell (Wash.)
Sen. Joe Manchin III (W. Va.)
Here is the whip count of the House from The Hill.
One hundred and three House Democrats have declared themselves in support of the agreement. Fourteen are opposed.
Here is the list of eight representatives said to be "leaning yes":
• Rep. Terri Sewell (Ala.)
• Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.)
• Rep. Sanford Bishop (Ga.)
• Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (Mo.)
• Rep. Bill Pascrell (N.J.)
• Rep. Chaka Fattah (Pa.)
• Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas)
• Rep. Derek Kilmer (Wash.)
And here are the 62 who are undecided or whose positions are unclear:
Rep. Ruben Gallego (Ariz.); Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (Ariz.); Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.)
Rep. Xavier Becerra (Calif.); Rep. Ami Bera (Calif.); Rep. Tony Cardenas (Calif.); Rep. Jim Costa (Calif.); Rep. Janice Hahn (Calif.); Rep. Jared Huffman (Calif.); Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.); Rep. Grace Napolitano (Calif.); Rep. Raul Ruiz (Calif.); Rep. Loretta Sanchez (Calif.); and Rep. Norma Torres (Calif.)
Rep. Jared Polis (Colo.)
Rep. John Carney (Del.)
Rep. Kathy Castor (Fla.); Rep. Lois Frankel (Fla.); Rep. Gwen Graham (Fla.); Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.)
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Hawaii); Rep. Mark Takai (Hawaii)
Rep. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.); Rep. Bill Foster (Ill.); Rep. Daniel Lipinski (Ill.)
Rep. Pete Visclosky (Ind.)
Rep. Dave Loebsack (Iowa)
Rep. Cedric Richmond (La.)
Rep. John Delaney (Md.); Rep. Steny Hoyer (Md.); Rep. Dutch Ruppersburger (Md.); Rep. John Sarbanes (Md.)
Rep. Bill Keating (Mass.); Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.)
Rep. Collin Peterson (Minn.)
Rep. Bennie Thompson (Miss.)
Rep. Lacy Clay (Mo.)
Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.)
Rep. Ben Ray Lujan (N.M.); Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.)
Rep. Joseph Crowley (N.Y.); Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.); Rep. Charles Rangel (N.Y.).
Rep. Dina Titus (Nev.)
Rep. Joyce Beatty (Ohio); Rep. Marcia Fudge (Ohio); Rep. Marcy Kaptur (Ohio); Rep. Tim Ryan (Ohio)
Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (Ore.)
Rep. Robert Brady (Pa.); Rep. Matthew Cartwright (Pa.)
Rep. David Cicilline (R.I.); Rep. Jim Langevin (R.I.)
Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.)
Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas); Rep. Al Green (Texas); Rep. Gene Green (Texas); Rep. Marc Veasey (Texas); Rep. Filemon Vela (Texas)
Rep. Ron Kind (Wis.)
Fourteen House Democrats have declared themselves opposed to the agreement and two are leaning no—Alan Grayson (Fla.) and Brad Ashford (Neb.)