Which 10 War-Mongering Dems Joined the GOP for a Show Vote against the Iran Deal?

Not happy with their previous inability to defeat the Iran Deal, Congressional Republicans tried again today with the Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act.

This bill would prevent President Obama from lifting any sanctions on Iran until it pays court-ordered damages to American terror victims. In other words, Congressional Republicans are trying to impose new terms on the deal with the obvious goal of killing it.

The White House has already expressed its intent to veto the bill:

The Administration strongly opposes H.R. 3457, which would prevent the United States from implementing its sanctions relief commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached between the P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, and Germany), the European Union (EU), and Iran by tying the Administration’s ability to fulfill U.S. commitments to non-nuclear issues that are outside the scope of the JCPOA. Obstructing implementation of the JCPOA would greatly undermine our national security interests. It would result in the collapse of a comprehensive diplomatic arrangement that peacefully and verifiably prevents Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and in turn would allow for the resumption of a significantly less constrained Iranian nuclear program, lead to the unraveling of the international sanctions regime against Iran, and deal a devastating blow to America’s credibility as a leader of international diplomacy. This would have ripple effects, jeopardizing both the hard work of sustaining a unified coalition to combat Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region and America’s ability to lead the world on nuclear non-proliferation.

By prohibiting actions to provide relief from nuclear-related sanctions on Iran even if Iran meets all of its JCPOA commitments – significantly rolling back and constraining its nuclear program under an unprecedented verification and monitoring regime – H.R. 3457 effectively seeks to renegotiate the commitments reached by all of the P5+1, the EU, and Iran, and endorsed by the UN Security Council. The Administration has consistently made clear that the purpose of the nuclear negotiations, and ultimately the JCPOA, was to address one issue only – the international community’s concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and the need to verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. This is the approach with which the United States was able to garner international support for our sanctions and achieve a diplomatic resolution.

The Administration supports efforts by U.S. terrorism victims to pursue compensation, consistent with our national security, and the JCPOA does nothing to impede those efforts. The Administration continues to work to explore all possible avenues for compensation, but will not do so in a manner that would connect this issue to the JCPOA, thereby jeopardizing its implementation and Iran’s fulfillment of the critical nuclear steps required under the JCPOA.

The bill passed 251 to 173. 

10 Democrats joined Republicans in voting for it:

Brad Ashford (NE-02)
Brendan Boyle (PA-13)
Chaka Fattah (PA-02)
Gwen Graham (FL-02)
Gene Green (TX-29)
Sean Maloney (PA-18)
Collin Peterson (MN-07)
Kyrsten Sinema (AZ-09)
Juan Vargas (CA-51)
Filemon Vela (TX-34)

As you can see, not all of the Democrats who voted against the Iran Deal itself joined their Republican colleagues today. That is because some of them knew it was a meaningless show vote:

But Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Iran doesn’t have access to enough funds to pay the damages because of U.S. sanctions currently in place.

“So where would Iran get the money to pay the American claims? The bill says, Iran pay the claims, but you can’t have any of the funds to pay them. So it’s a Catch-22,” Engel said.

Engel, who was among the Democrats that opposed the Iran deal, dismissed the measure as a show vote.

“Let’s be honest. This bill is not really about helping these victims. It’s about exploiting their plight and their tragedy to make a political splash,” Engel said.