Sen. Patty Murray Comes Out In Favor Of Iran Deal
August 26, 2015

Senator Patty Murray came out in support of the Iran Deal Tuesday, bringing the count up to 29 confirmed Democratic votes. This is good, but we really need to get to 41 so the resolution of disapproval never passes the Senate at all.

Here's the list of those who haven't yet announced their support. If they're in your state, you should call them and encourage them to support the deal.

Clearly leaning yes, reserving final judgment (2)

  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.): "The most critical element of the deal for me is likely to be our ability, and the ability of the world, to verify strict Iranian compliance with the agreement."
  • Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.): "Today's announcement is a significant milestone in the effort to preclude Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon.... The devil is in the details."

Leaning yes, but hesitant (2)

  • Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.): "I have not made a decision about whether I will vote to reject the agreement or not. And I think that there are weaknesses in this agreement. The president has said, he's right, no agreement is perfect," he told constituents in Connecticut in August.
  • Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.): "I believe that American strength is rooted in both military might and diplomacy, and I am pleased that we have given diplomacy a chance. However, we still need to look at the agreement in its entirety before passing judgment."

Purely undecided (8)

  • Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.): "The stakes are high, and the details of this deal matter."
  • Sen Cory Booker (D-N.J.): "I will hold this deal to a very high standard and in reaching any conclusion," he said.
  • Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.): "There's a lot of questions," the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee said on NPR on July 14. In his opening statement of a July 23 hearing on the deal, he said, "Our negotiators got an awful lot, particularly on the nuclear front."
  • Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) "Over the coming days, I will be conducting a thorough review of the agreement to evaluate whether it protects our national security interests," but in November, he urged his colleagues on the banking committee to impose more sanctions on Iran, saying he had little faith in interim negotiations, which "simply allowed more time for the Iranian regime to continue its efforts to acquire a nuclear weapons capability."
  • Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.): "I am a Democrat, and I would like to be able to support this agreement. But I have serious reservations about it," he told Politico.
  • Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.): Heitkamp was a co-sponsor of the Iran review bill Congress passed in May. Her staff says she is still reviewing the deal. "We must prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb – period. That is our priority and where our focus should remain. And we must avoid lifting any sanctions without verifiable actions so Iran cannot develop a nuclear weapon," she said.
  • Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.): Peters was an original co-sponsor of the 2015 Kirk-Menendez Iran sanctions bill that Obama said would put unnecessary pressure on the negotiations.
  • Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.): "“I will review this agreement with the utmost attention to detail, given the incredible importance of getting an agreement of this magnitude right."

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