Republicans are unpatriotic won't do their own jobs inappropriately interfere with foriegn policy

Senator Angus King responded to the 47 Republican Senators who signed a letter to Iran (possibly in violation of the Logan Act), in a speech on the Senate Floor today March 10, 2015.  

Senator King recalled how essential it was for Americans and Congress to stand united with President John Kennedy, in the face of the 1962, Cuban Missle Crises.

President Kennedy signs the Proclamation for Interdiction of the Delivery of Offensive Weapons to Cuba at the Oval Office on October 23, 1962

In remarks delivered on the Senate floor today, U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine), a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, underscored the importance of allowing the current negotiations between the United States and its P5+1 partners and Iran to proceed unencumbered by partisanship and to judge any potential deal on its merits.

On the other hand, the Republican Senators who signed a partisan letter undermining the President of the United States in his Iran nuclear negotiaitons, should apologize to the American people for their outrageous and potentially illegal partisan behavior.  

In fact, Chris Matthews even slams the illegality of the presumptuous behavior by citing the Logan Act of 1799, and insisting that all 47 senators who signed it violated the law and risk fines and a prison sentence.  

Congress passed and the president signed the Logan Act, in the earliest days of our republic. 

"Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who without authority of the United States directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States or to defeat the measures of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years or both."

When will Americans open their eyes to the realization of how right wing conservative Republicans are only interested in protecting their own egotistical political ambitions. They have little if any regard for American foreign policy interests, unless it makes them look good among their right wing fanatical followers. In other words, keeping their rich donor base happy.

Senator King said, "The grave issue that faces this country and the entire world is the possibility of a regime such as that in Iran achieving nuclear weapons. This is not an ideological debate. This is a serious debate about the future of this country. It's one of the most serious negotiations of our lives, and I want Congress to have a role - but I want it to play that role weighing the merits," Senator King said on the floor. 

"…I want us to have that role, but I want to be sure that we can respond to that in a responsible way. And the actions of the last few days have frankly shaken that confidence because we have seen what appears to be an effort to gain political and partisan advantage from this gravest of national issues."

Senator King's remarks reference an open letter sent yesterday by 47 Senate Republicans to the leaders of Iran, which effectively argues that the President does not speak for the United States in these negotiations and that, unless Congress approves the agreement, it can be dissolved or rolled-back following the President's term in office.

"To turn this into a partisan issue, I think, does a great disservice to this entire country. And to undercut the President in the last stages of the negotiations, to me, is just unprecedented and unthinkable," 

Senator King continued. "I was a young man at the time of the Cuban missile crisis. I cannot imagine the Congress of the United States writing a letter to Khrushchev in the midst of those discussions and saying, 'Don't worry about this guy, Kennedy, he doesn't speak for the country.' And yet, that's essentially what took place yesterday. I just don't understand the need or the helpfulness of such a statement at a time when we were already moving toward a bipartisan - I believe, probably veto-proof - bill to provide this institution with a check on the quality of the deal that's being struck. It's just not productive and helpful to turn issues of this kind into partisan issues."

Senator King is a cosponsor of the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, bipartisan legislation that would mandate the President submit the text of any agreement to Congress and prohibit the Administration from suspending congressionally-mandated sanctions for 60 days. During that period, Congress would have the opportunity to hold hearings and approve, disapprove, or take no action on the agreement.