Florida’s First Jewish Congresswoman Backs Iran Nuclear Deal

Florida’s First Jewish Congresswoman Backs Iran Nuclear Deal
Mon Sep 7, 2015 13:17:09

Despite immense pressure to oppose the Iran nuclear agreement, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Florida’s first Jewish congresswoman, has said she would vote in favor of the deal in Congress.

“In weighing all the information that I had in front of me, I concluded that the best thing to do is to vote in support of the Iran deal,” Wasserman told CNN on Sunday.

The chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee and Florida’s Representative said it was her most difficult decision in more than two decades in public office.

Schultz explained that she had been in the White House's Situation Room more than two dozen times over the last two years to get briefed on the agreement reached between Iran and P5+1 group counties -- the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the agreement, Iran has been recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program, but some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions.

The leading Jewish lawmaker had been under pressure to oppose the agreement in Florida, which is home to the third-largest Jewish population in the United States.

Schultz said President Barack Obama has assured her that she would be part of a group of members in Congress working with the administration to develop an enhanced security package for Israel.

Vice President Joe Biden also met with Jewish leaders in South Florida last week urging them to back the agreement.

The Republican-dominated Congress is reviewing the nuclear agreement and has until September 17 to vote to either approve or disapprove of it.

Obama, however, had vowed to veto any resolution that would disapprove the agreement.

He already had secured enough Democratic votes in favor of the deal in the Senate. Many other House Democrats have also begun to announce their backing of the president’s foreign policy legacy; Press TV reported.

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