14
April 2015
Hon.
Tom Cotton
United
States Senate
B-33
Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Washington, DC 20510
Dear
Senator Cotton:
Each passing day seems to bring new and worrying revelations about the
“framework agreement” that President Obama claims to have achieved with the
Islamic Republic of Iran and five other nations. This “deal” is supposed
to determine future restrictions on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The
cumulative effect of these insights is a powerful affirmation of the effort you
and forty-six of your Senate colleagues made last month to put the mullahs on
notice that any such deal would require congressional assent. We write to
commend you for taking this important initiative.
In
particular, we want to thank you for the American civics lesson
you gave the Iranian leaders with this cautionary note: “…We will
consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not
approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between
President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke
such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses
could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.” Your
courageous warning bespoke a patriotic commitment to our Constitution and its
separation of powers that is deeply appreciated.
Given
the chimerical nature of the so-called framework agreement – which is, at the
moment, being characterized in wildly different ways by the various parties,
raising profound uncertainty about the nature and extent of the commitments
Iran is making, their actual value in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapons
program, the timing and extent of sanctions relief, etc. – the need for congressional oversight,
advice and consent concerning any accord that flows from that agreement can no
longer responsibly be denied.
It
would be a serious affront to the Constitution and to the American people
were an agreement of this potentially enormous strategic consequence not
to be submitted for such action by the Congress. Grievous
insult would be added to injury should the United Nations Security Council instead be asked to
approve it.
Again
we thank you for your leadership in ensuring that the
constitutionally mandated process for assuring quality-control on
international agreements is followed in this case. We urge you and your
colleagues to insist on nothing less going forward.
cc:
46 other signatories of the Cotton Letter
Frank
J. Gaffney, Jr.
President
& CEO
Center for Security Policy
Lt.
Gen. William G. Boykin
U.S.
Army (Ret.)
Former
Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense for Intelligence
Lt.
Col. M. L. “Buzz” Hefti USMC (Ret.)
Former
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,
Legislative
Affairs
Admiral
James A. Lyons USN (Ret.)
Former
Commander-in-Chief,
U.S.
Pacific Fleet
Andy
McCarthy
Former
Chief Assistant United States Attorney
Southern
District of New York
Fred
Fleitz
Senior
Vice President for Policy & Programs
Center for Security Policy
Clare
Lopez
Vice
President of Research & Analysis
Center for Security Policy
Lt.
Gen. Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.)
Former
Chief
Air
Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
Lt.
Col. Roy White (Ret.)
Chapter
Coordinator
ACT! for America, San Antonio
Ambassador
Eric M. Javits (Ret.)
PermRep
and Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament
Organization for Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons
Ambassador
Henry F. Cooper
Former
Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative
Chief
U.S. Negotiator to the Geneva Defense and Space Talks
Admiral
Tom Hayward USN (Ret.)
Honorable
Allen B. Clark
Former
Assistant Secretary
Department
of Veterans Affairs
Hon.
Joseph E. Schmitz
Former
Inspector General of the Department of Defense
Hon.
J. Kenneth Blackwell
Former
U.S. Ambassador
U.N.
Human Rights Commission
Hon.
Thomas W. O’Connell
Former
Assistant Secretary
Defense
(Special Operations)
Kenneth
deGraffenreid
Former
Special Asst. to the President,
For National Security Affairs, Reagan
Fmr
Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, Policy
Fmr
Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive
Richard
A. Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com
Jay
W. Dickey, Jr.
Former
U.S. Representative
Fourth
Congressional District, Arkansas
George
Rasley
Editor
Conservative
HQ.com
Allen
Roth
Secure America Now
Scott
Brauer
Navy
SEAL Officer (Ret.)
Dr.
Steve Greer
CSM,
USA (Ret.)
Charles
L. Sues
Colonel
USA (Ret.)
Warren
Elliott
Former
Officer Lt., USN
Bob
Rohrer
U.S.
Marine Veteran
Russell
Thomas
U.S.
Army
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Children International
Bruce
Brotman
Former
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Former
Senior Executive at TSA
Wayne
Ronald Boyles, III
Former
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C.
Preston Noell III
President
President
Tradition,
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Roger
Noriega
Former
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Matthew
Brooks
Executive
Director
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Noah
Silverman
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Republican
Jewish Coalition
David
J. Frum
Author
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Starr
Pitzer
President
Pitzer
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Tom
Trento
Director
The
United West
Rick
Manning
President
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Elaine
Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness
Dr.
Daniel Goure
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Morton
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President
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Daniel
Pollak
Co-Director
Government Relations
Zionist
Organization of America
Joshua
London
Co-Director
Government Relations
Zionist
Organization of America
Floyd
W. “Wink” McKinnon
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Seton
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Oliver
“Buck” Revell
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Chairman,
Board of Directors
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East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
Andrew
Bostom, MD
Author,
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Robert
Jackall
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Alice
Linahan
Vice
President
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Judy
Taibi
President
Ingenuity
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Phyllis
Kaminsky
Former
Director
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Nations Information Center
Stuart
Kaufman
Coordinator
of Special Operations, The United West
Columnist,
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Jack
David
Senior
Fellow, Hudson Institute
Former
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
Combating
Weapons of Mass Destruction & Negotiations Policy
Nicholas
F.S. Papanicolaou
Author
and Worldwide Leader
Sovereign
Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
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of Malta
Dr.
Daniel Pipes
President
Middle
East Forum
Daria
Novak
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Institute for American Politics
Penny
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Women for America
J.
L. Jackson
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(Ret.)
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Morton
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Chairman
The
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Walter
P. Stern
Chairman
Emeritus
The
Hudson Institute
Diana
West
Journalist
and Author
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on
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Ron
Woodard
Director
NC
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Dee
Hodges
President
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Taxpayers Association
Linda
Loomis, P.A.
Realtor
John
R. Wood Properties
George
A. Keyworth, II
Science
Advisor to the President
(1981-1986)
Paula
A. DeSutter
Assistant
Secretary of State
Verification
and Compliance (2002-2009)
Dr.
Jack A. Milavic
US
Army Retired
FFA
and DOS Retired
Jeffrey
W. Bayard
Publisher
Right
Side News
Norman
Jenulis
Retired
Wall Street VP
Dr.
Elie D. Krakowski
Former
Special Assistant to
U.S.
Assistant Secretary of Defense
Diana
Denman
Former
Reagan Appointee
Steven
W. Mosher
President
Population
Research Institute
Jen
Bawden
Task
Force on National and Homeland Security
Committee
of the Secure the Grid Coalition
Jerome
R. Corsi, Ph.D.
Senior
Staff Write, WMD.com
Author,
“ATOMIC IRAN: How the Terrorist Regime
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the Bomb and American Politicians”
Janet
Lehr
Editor
and Publisher
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Mitchell
Counts
Associate
Professor of Law
Belmont
University College of Law
John
Wohlstetter
Senior
Fellow
Discovery
Institute
London Center for Policy Research
G.
William Heiser
Director,
Arms Control Policy
National Security Council Staff
Mona
Charen
Syndicated
Columnist
Senior
Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
Irving
W. Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Retired
Chief Scientist
Dept.
of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory
Former
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Donna
Laquintano
Assistant
to Richard J. Fox
Stanley
J. Horky
Manager
and Owner
Program
Initiatives, LLC
Scott
Franklin
Franklin
Consulting Works
Russell
J. Ramsland, Jr.
Leader
Park
Cities/Preston Hollow Leadership Forum
Michael
G. Hoehn, Esq.
Executive
Director
Alliance for Vigilance
Sidney
Powell
Attorney
Lawrence
Kogan
CEO
Institute for Trade, Standards and
Sustainable
Development (ITSSD)
Jack
Park
Attorney
Judson
Phillips
Founder
Tea
Party Nation
Ron
Robinson
President
Young
American’s Foundation
Brigitte
Gabriel
Founder
& CEO
ACT for America
Sarah
Hart
Former
Chapter Leader
ACT! for America, Pittsburgh
Debra
Burlingame
Co-Founder
9/11
Families for a Safe & Strong America
Kristin
Fecteau
Co-Founder
Campaign
to Free America
Michael
James Barton
Former
Middle East Policy Deputy Director
The
Pentagon
Melissa
Ortiz
Founder
and Principal
Able
American
William
H. Shaker
President
Rule
of Law Committee
Ronald
D. Rotunda
The
Doy & Dee Henley Chair and
Distinguished
Professor of Jurisprudence
Chapman
University
Gail
Madden
Former
Mayor Pro Tem
Highland
Park, Texas
Roger
Simon
President
PJ
Media
David
Webb
Sirius
XM Patriot Talk Show Host
Scott
Bradford
Owner
Bradford
Rx Solutions, LLC
Joel
Pollak
Editor-in-Chief
and In-House Counsel
Breitbart.com
George
Landrith
President
Frontiers
of Freedom
Diana
Furchtgott-Roth
Manhattan
Institute
Clarice
Feldman
Writer
and Lawyer
The
American Thinker
Janet
Parshall
National
Syndicated Talk Show Host
Rock
Peters
Freelance
writer
Knights
of Columbus
Carol
Tabor
President
Family Security Matters
Abigail
Thernstrom
Adjunct
Scholar
American
Enterprise Institute
John
Hinderaker
Powerline
Colin
Hanna
President
Let
Freedom Ring
Andrew
Hyman
Executive
Director
The
Institute for Intermediate Study (IFIS)
Lucinda
Demick
Army
& Air Force Exchange Services
Bill
Bennett
National
Talk Radio Host
Gary
Bauer
Christians
United for Israel
Chuck
Muth
President
Citizen
Outreach
Wilma
Hall
Former
White House National Security Secretary
Stephen
Bryen
Former
Undersecretary of Defense
For Trade Security Policy
Mary
Beth Long
Former
Assistant Secretary of Defense
James
Roche
Former
Secretary of the AF
Jim
and Judy Warner
Former
POW Vietnam
Lori
Lowenthal Marcus
Correspondent
Jewish
Week
Richard
Falknor
Publisher
Blue
Ridge Forum
Susan
Falknor
Publisher
Blue
Ridge Forum
James
Simpson
Freelance
Journalist
Sandy
Rios
Director
of Government Affairs
American
Family Association
Carol
Greenwald
Former
Commissioner of Banking
Massachusetts
Michael
Ledeen
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Scholar
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
A.
Baron Cass, III
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Citizen
Darlene
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