Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015 | 2:19 p.m.
Harry Reid
U.S. Sen. Harry Reid cheered his fellow Democrats for blocking a GOP resolution to reject a six-nation nuclear deal with Iran sponsored by President Barack Obama.
“The Senate has spoken with a clarion voice and declared that the historic agreement to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon will stand,” Reid said after the Senate vote. “Our fellow Americans, allies and negotiating partners around the world should know that today’s outcome was clear, decisive and final: there is now no doubt whatsoever that the United States Congress will allow this historic agreement to proceed,” Reid said. “Efforts by opponents to derail this agreement were soundly rejected by a margin much larger than anyone thought achievable as recently as a few days ago.”
The vote ends months of debate between Democrats and Republicans highlighting the divide over how the U.S. should help defend Israel from an Iranian nuclear weapon.
Republican Senator Dean Heller, who voted against the deal, blasted the outcome, saying, "The Iran deal does nothing to effectively eliminate Iran's nuclear program."
After the deal became public in July, Republicans quickly countered with legislation to block it, and it was unclear through the summer whether Democrats could thwart the GOP effort.
But as time passed, Democrats rallied 41 votes to kill the resolution and prevent a filibuster. Four Democrats voted in support of the GOP resolution.
The deal will limit Iran’s nuclear enrichment programs in return for lifting economic sanctions on the country. It cuts back Iran’s stockpile of uranium for 15 years and prohibits the country from introducing more powerful enrichment machines for 10 years.
The deal will stand as one of Obama’s key foreign policy achievements. The New York Times reported that, like the Affordable Care Act, the Iran deal is a policy the president won without a single Republican offering support.
