Majority of House sponsor bill condemning Iran deal

A majority of the House has signed on as co-sponsors to a bill that condemns the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran.

Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) on Monday said 218 Republicans have signed on to his legislation.

{mosads}The level of support suggests a majority of the House would also vote on a formal measure to disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal.

That’s not a big surprise given near-uniform GOP opposition to the deal. The White House is focused on winning support from Democrats so that it can sustain an expected Obama veto of a disapproval measure. It would take two-thirds majority votes in the House and Senate to override Obama’s veto. 

The Iran deal would lift sanctions on Iran in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limits on its nuclear program. 

Under the review process signed into law by Obama, Congress could pass a measure of approval or disapproval of the deal.

Roskam is the co-chairman of the House Republican Israel Caucus.

“Congress and the American people believe a better agreement is still achievable, and we can start by walking away from this one,” he said in a statement. “This is why a majority of the House is prepared to vote against this deal. We will do everything in our power to stop an accord that so utterly fails to shut down Iran’s nuclear program.”

Although many Democrats are still making a decision on whether they support the deal, Roskam said the more members reviewed the deal, the more they disagreed with it. 

“Time is not the friend of this deal,” he wrote. “The more time Members spend evaluating this agreement, the more they realize it’s an historic mistake.” 

Roskam disputed the administration’s argument that the choice was between the deal or war, citing Secretary of State John Kerry’s threats to walk away from the deal if it was a bad deal.  

“If that was the case, then surely there was an alternative besides this dangerous agreement and war,” he said.