J Street Welcomes Iran Policy Oversight Bill

We applaud the introduction of legislation by Senate Foreign Relations Ranking Member Ben Cardin (D-MD) and several of his colleagues to ensure strong Congressional oversight of enforcement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and other key aspects of US policy toward Iran. J Street supports the bill and will lobby for for its passage and enactment into law.

The bill’s provisions closely track the policy prescriptions J Street put forward immediately after last month’s key votes on the accord in Congress. Comprehensive reporting on Iran’s activities, enhancement of the President’s existing non-nuclear sanctions powers and further strengthening already unprecedented US security and intelligence cooperation with Israel are steps that will bolster the agreement and its critical objective of ensuring that Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon.

A solid majority of American Jews supported the nuclear agreement, and even those who did not will almost certainly want to see it strictly enforced and Iran’s nefarious activities in the region addressed. We therefore encourage Jewish communal and pro-Israel groups who may have opposed the JCPOA to support this legislation as furthering the essential security interest of the United States, Israel and our partners around the world.

Similarly, we call on Republican leadership in Congress to not treat this bill and its critical aim of countering numerous Iranian threats as a partisan football. Now is the time for Congress to come together in a bipartisan manner to cement America’s leadership role in addressing the full range of Iran’s bad behavior.