There are 28 Jewish members of Congress: 26 Democrats, one independent who caucuses with the Democrats and one Republican. Nine of them are senators and 19 are representatives.
Nine back the Iran deal, seven oppose it and 12 are undecided as of Aug. 18.
The positions of Jewish lawmakers are being watched as Congress decides whether to reject the July 14 agreement between Iran and world powers. The vote, to be held by the end of September, is expected to go against the deal. The real question is: Will opponents manage two-thirds majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate to override President Barack Obama’s promised veto of a rejection?
AIPAC is very much in the lead lobbying against the Iran deal, and its focus has been on Jewish lawmakers. Dozens of members of Congress have come out against the deal, yet AIPAC issued a statement thanking only one, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. Schumer is of course key partly because he is a leading Democrat, and with Republicans more or less unified against the deal, the battleground for the deal is Democrats.
But Schumer is also key because he is Jewish.
It goes both ways: J Street, in listing lawmakers who agree with its support for the deal, identified two lawmakers as Jewish: Reps. Sander Levin, D-Michigan, and Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles County.
The Obama administration has focused with intensity equal to AIPAC’s on Jewish lawmakers, with Obama meeting in special sessions with the unofficial Jewish caucus.
“This is a decision that weighs heavily on all members of Congress — particularly on Jewish members,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-New York, wrote in an Aug. 5 JTA op-ed.
Backing the deal
Senate
California’s Democratic senators: Barbara Boxer, elected 1992, retiring next year. Democratic chief deputy whip, member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Aug. 4 statement: “The bottom line is that Iran is a bad actor and a nuclear-armed Iran would make the world a much more dangerous place — and that is why Congress should unite behind this deal to block Iran’s path to a bomb.”
Dianne Feinstein, elected 1992. Ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. From her congressional website’s foreign policy page: “Senator Feinstein strongly believes that the only way to peacefully resolve the international community’s dispute with Iran over its nuclear program is through diplomacy. She supports the nuclear agreement between the P5 +1 (the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China and Russia) and Iran.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, elected 2006. Caucuses with Democrats, running for president. Aug. 7 on CBS’ “Face the Nation”: “It’s so easy to be critical of an agreement which is not perfect. But the United States has to negotiate with other countries. We have to negotiate with Iran. And the alternative of not reaching an agreement, you know what it is? It’s war.”
Also in favor: Sens. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Al Franken, D-Minnesota.
House
Rep. Sander Levin, D-Michigan, elected 1982. Ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee, longest serving Jewish member of Congress. July 28 statement: “Israel’s security has and always will be of critical importance to me and our country. I believe that Israel, the region, and the world are far more secure if Iran does not move toward possession of a nuclear weapon. I believe the Agreement is the best way to achieve that.”
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Los Angeles County, elected 2000. Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Aug. 3 statement: “The Iranian people will one day throw off the shackles of their repressive regime, and I hope that this deal will empower those who wish to reform Iranian governance and behavior. The fifteen years or more this agreement provides will give us the time to test that proposition, without Iran developing the bomb and without the necessity of protracted military action. Then, as now, if Iran is determined to go nuclear, there is only one way to stop it and that is by the use of force. But then at least, the American people and others around the world will recognize that we did everything possible to avoid war.”
Also in favor: Reps. John Yarmuth, D-Kentucky, and Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois.
Opposing the deal
Senate
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, elected 1998. A leading contender for Democratic leadership in the Senate when Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader, retires next year. Aug. 6 statement: “Ultimately, in my view, whether one supports or opposes the resolution of disapproval depends on how one thinks Iran will behave under this agreement. If one thinks Iran will moderate, that contact with the West and a decrease in economic and political isolation will soften Iran’s hardline positions, one should approve the agreement. But if one feels that Iranian leaders will not moderate and their unstated but very real goal is to get relief from the onerous sanctions, while still retaining their nuclear ambitions and their ability to increase belligerent activities in the Middle East and elsewhere, then one should conclude that it would be better not to approve this agreement.”
House
Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Florida, elected 2006. Ranking Democrat on the Middle East subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Aug. 4 op-ed in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: “After a decade in public life working to stop Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons, I cannot support a deal giving Iran billions of dollars in sanctions relief — in return for letting it maintain an advanced nuclear program and the infrastructure of a threshold nuclear state.”
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-New York, elected 1988. Ranking Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Aug. 6 statement: “At the outset, I was troubled that Iran was not asked to stop enriching despite the fact that there were several separate UN Security Council resolutions compelling them to do so. I have raised questions and concerns throughout the negotiating phase and review period. The answers I’ve received simply don’t convince me that this deal will keep a nuclear weapon out of Iran’s hands, and may in fact strengthen Iran’s position as a destabilizing and destructive influence across the Middle East.”
Also opposed: Reps. Steve Israel and Nita Lowey, both D-New York; Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks; and the lone Jewish Republican in Congress, Lee Zeldin, R-New York.
Not yet declared
Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut; Ben Cardin, D-Maryland; and Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. Reps. David Cicillinne, D-Rhode Island; Steve Cohen, D-Tennessee; Susan Davis, D-San Diego; Alan Grayson and Lois Frankel, both D-Florida; Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach; Jerrold Nadler, D-New York; Jared Polis, D-Colorado; and perhaps the most closely watched undecided Jewish lawmaker, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Florida.