Bob Corker pushes bill for Congress to OK nuclear deal with Iran

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations said Sunday that he intends to move forward with legislation requiring Congress to approve the historic nuclear deal struck last week between Iran, the U.S. and other international powers.

Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee Republican, said his committee intends to vote April 14 on a bill requiring House and Senate approval of the agreement with Iran.

The legislation, which has strong bipartisan support, would prevent President Obama from lifting economic sanctions on Iran for 60 days while Congress reviews the deal.

Mr. Obama, who last week said lawmakers essentially would be pushing for war if they get in the way of a deal with Tehran, has threatened to veto the bill.

But Mr. Corker said the Senate is close to having the 67 votes needed to override a presidential veto.

“The president needs to sell this [deal] to the American people,” Mr. Corker said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think the American people want the United States Senate to go through this deal. They understand this is one of the most important geopolitical agreements that will take place during this decade. This is an appropriate place for us to be. If the president feels like this is something that’s good for the nation, surely he can sell this to the United States Senate and the House.”

Mr. Corker expressed confidence that at least 64 or 65 senators would vote for his legislation. Some media reports say 66 senators would vote for the bill if it comes to the Senate floor.

On the Iran deal itself, Mr. Corker said it’s too soon to say whether the agreement is a good one. In exchange for relief from some economic sanctions, Iran will limit its uranium enrichment, will greatly reduce the number of its operating centrifuges and take other steps.

But Mr. Corker and other lawmakers still have questions about the deal’s details and say it’s important for Congress to have time to review it before any sanctions relief kicks in.

“There’s a lot of water that needs to go under the bridge. Many, many details are unknown at this point, so I don’t know if anybody can ascertain if this is something good or bad yet for the American citizenry,” he said.