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Maine's Congressional Delegation Cautious in Sizing up Iran Deal

WASHINGTON - Early Tuesday, President Obama released a 150-page agreement that curtails Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for easing economic sanctions. The deal was the product of multi-nation talks involving the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia. Maine’s congressional delegation is cautious in its early assessment of the proposal.

Congress will have 60 days to review the complex proposal but it is clear there are already concerns about the agreement. Second District Congressman Bruce Poliquin, a Republican, says he is reviewing the language of the proposal, but says it raises red flags for him.

"I will never support, ever, any opportunity to have a marriage between nuclear weapons and terrorism," Poliquin says. "And the country of Iran, right now, the government of Iran, supports terrorism."

Poliquin says he has doubts that the agreement‘s inspection provisions are rigorous enough. The deal reportedly allows inspectors to access any site they deem suspicious and calls for heightened inspections, including tracking of uranium mining for 20 years.

Independent Sen. Angus King says he wants to more fully study the proposal, and is surprised at the quick reactions from many lawmakers and commentators to the deal, which he says is complicated and a difficult read. "I think we ought to take a deep breath here and read it and understand what it says, and understand what the pros and cons are, and then come up with a position."

King says, for him, an important unanswered question is whether the inspection procedures in the agreement are stringent enough to uncover any secret efforts by Iran to develop facilities able to make materials that could be used to construct an atomic weapon of some sort.

That is also a concern of Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who says the president should be explaining the agreement and not threatening to veto any legislation to try and affect it. "I was disappointed to hear the president this morning issue a veto threat. At this point his focus should be on explaining the agreement and trying to persuade members of Congress why it is in the best interest of our country and the Mideast."

Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, of Maine's 1st District, says she wants to take the time to read and review the proposal. She is worried the agreement could be doomed to partisan warfare in both branches of Congress. "I really hope my colleagues in Congress don't let partisan politics stand in the way of approving what I think could be a historic deal to stop the spread of nuclear weapons."

Leadership in both the U.S. House and Senate say there will be hearings on the proposal scheduled soon. Under legislation adopted earlier this year, Congress has 60 days to act on the proposed agreement and could vote a resolution of disapproval. While that would only require a majority vote in the House, it would need 60 votes in the Senate to block a filibuster.

Many observers believe the deal will take effect because of President Obama’s threatened veto. In other words, preventing the agreement from taking effect would require a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

 

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Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.