Israel Matzav

Kirk and Menendez tell Obama he has no laurels on which to sit

Senators Mark Kirk (R-Il) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ, pictured) dealt President Hussein Obama one of the most embarrassing moments of a pathetic presidency, when they pushed an Iran sanctions bill through the Senate - which Obama really wanted to oppose - by a 100-0 vote. As you might imagine, Kirk and Menendez have some strong feelings about this past weekend's 'negotiations' in Istanbul. And you shouldn't be surprised to hear that they're not very impressed.

"The United States should not mistake positive diplomatic dialogue for compliance with United Nations Security Council resolutions," said a spokesman for Republican Senator Mark Kirk.

Kirk and several other US legislators have been pressuring the White House to get tougher on Iran and are pushing for a range of additional penalties that would further isolate Iran and prevent it from trading with the rest of the world.

...

"We have five weeks to convince the Iranians that the sanctions we passed in December were only a first step," said Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, who along with Kirk helped design the sanctions that were signed into law in December.

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Many Republican and Democratic Senators support legislation that would force the United States to target Iran's main oil and shipping companies and require publicly traded companies to disclose their Iran-related activities.

But the legislation stalled when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refused to allow lawmakers to consider adding further penalties to the bill.

A spokesman for Reid said he had not decided whether to bring the bill to the Senate floor during the current session. Reid has chastised Republicans for blocking the bill although there has been bipartisan support for further measures.

Menendez said it was crucial that Congress pass the legislation quickly to send a message to the Iranian government that the United States "won't allow them to use the Baghdad talks to stall for more time to advance their covert nuclear program."

I wonder if Hussein Obama would veto it. In an election year? What a juicy prospect. Heh.

Labels: Barack Hussein Obama, Campaign 2012, Iran sanctions regime, Mark Kirk, Robert Menendez

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:33 AM