Last month, Republicans in the U.S. Senate introduced a formal resolution of disapproval of the historic deal brokered by the Obama administration that will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon for the forseeable future. Despite millions of dollars being spent by pro-war groups, yesterday Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) became the 34th senator to come out in support of the deal, giving President Obama enough votes to survive a promised veto.
UPDATE: Today, Senator Cory Booker from New Jersey became the 35th senator to support the accord.
UPDATE 2: Senator Mark Warner of Virgina became the 36th senator to support the accord today.
UPDATE 3: Senator Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota became the 37th senator to support the accord today.
Not on the list of supporters, however, is our very own Gary Peters, one of the few Democratic senators to not sign on. Pro-peace groups around the country are working to secure enough votes that a veto by President Obama isn’t necessary including the fine folks at Brave New Films who released this video yesterday calling on Peters’ constituents to reach out to him and ask him to support President Obama and his diplomatic approach:
Although Senator Debbie Stabenow along with Gary Peters’ predecessor and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Carl Levin, have come out in support of the Iranian nuclear accord, Senator Peters remains the odd person out. It’s time for that to change. Please contact him and be heard on this crucial issue. It’s easy to do. Just click HERE.
You can also help the cause by sharing Brave New Films’ video on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
I’ll finish up with the wise words of LOLGOP:
Here in Michigan, we’re very proud of Senator Gary Peters. He’s the only freshman Democratic Senator elected in 2014. When it comes to Michigan’s parents, environment and small businesses, we can always count on his vote.But when it comes to the Iran deal, he’s not yet proven to be an equal to Senator Carl Levin, the giant of American politics he replaced. Levin was an early champion of nuclear negotiations and a comprehensive agreement. We’re sure Senator Levin would already have joined Senator Stabenow and dozens other Democrats in backing this agreement.
Senator Peters will be running for re-election in 2020, when Michigan will hopefully be re-electing Democratic president. His commitment to pragmatism and budget sanity will be confirmed by his support for diplomacy that could prevent losses of thousands of lives and trillions of dollars. Experts continue to argue that if negotiations fail, only a full-scale invasion would prevent a determined Iran from gaining nuclear arms.
Senator Peters is a great representative of Michigan and I hope he’ll join military leaders, arms control experts and members of the Jewish community who make awesome TV in this chance to permanently insure that the nuclear centrifuges that were allowed to begin spinning under George W. Bush never become part of an arsenal of war.
[Photo by Anne C. Savage, special to Eclectablog]
