Lawmakers want bigger role for Congress in Iran deal

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee pressed the Obama administration Thursday to give Congress a greater role in approving any nuclear deal with Iran.

"I think the American people, through their elected representatives, should be weighing in on this deal," Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, told a top U.S. State Department official. "I know we disagree on that point."

Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., said more than 360 members of Congress have sent a bipartisan letter to President Obama detailing their concerns about negotiations with Iran.

"With a deep history of deception, covert procurement, and clandestine facilities, Iran is not 'any other' country, to be conceded an industrial scale nuclear program," Royce said. "Any meaningful agreement must keep restrictions in place for decades, as over 360 members of Congress — including every member of this committee — are demanding in a letter to the president."

Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken told committee members that the administration has worked to keep Congress informed of negotiations and will meet with lawmakers publicly and privately to provide details of any agreement that is reached with Iran.

Secretary of State John Kerry and other U.S. officials were in Switzerland on Thursday working to negotiate a deal by the end of this month. The administration is seeking an agreement that would prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons while allowing the nation to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2015/03/19/house-foreign-affairs-committee-iran-negotiations/25009467/