Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s FULL Speech To Joint Session of Congress | March 3, 2015

• published: 04 Mar 2015
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Benjamin Netanyahu’s FULL Speech To US Congress | March 3, 2015 | VIDEO Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is about to address a joint session of Congress on the dangers of a possibly impending nuclear deal with Iran, which reportedly involves a 10-15 year restraint on the Iranian nuclear program that would reportedly allow Tehran to operate as many as 6,500 uranium enrichment centrifuges. The speech (11 a.m. EST) was arranged on the initiative of House Speaker John Boehner. It was not authorized by the executive branch and has already harmed relations between the US and Israel. The administration is scaling back the information it shares with Israel about the Iran negotiations. President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and 56 out of 188 congressional democrats will not be attending the speech. Neither will Secretary of State John Kerry, who will be meeting with Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif in Montreux, Switzerland instead. Whatever Netanyahu actually says, the purpose of his speech is to build up congressional opposition to the coming deal. Congress cannot stop a deal on its own, since the accord will be structured as a series of nonbinding political agreements precisely in order to circumvent any constitutional need for US congressional consent. But it can impact a nuclear agreement in other ways. Congress could refuse to lift the sanctions on Iran that it passed, forcing Obama to affect a deal through a series of executive waivers — and raising the possibility that a future president would simply decide to stop issuing those waivers and re-impose sanctions. As former US ambassador to Iraq and Washington Institute for Near East Policy scholar James Jeffrey argued, Congress could also strengthen the deal by providing "advance authorization for the administration to use force if Iran races to a weapons capability." And Jeffrey notes that strategic concert with Iran is also a broader diplomatic project than Obama could possibly implement during his remaining years in office (Jeffrey argues that detente with China actually took decades to implement). Both the current Congress and a future presidential administration could have a role to play in firming up a deal while undercutting Iran's strategic ambitions. Even if Congress can't cancel out or scuttle a deal, Netanyahu can at least make the case for damage control — and demonstrate that most of the US Congress and even most of the members of Congress from the president's own party are at least willing to hear him out. The big question is what kind of approach Netanyahu will take. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking to Congress Tuesday morning, attempted to scuttle any potential deal between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear-enrichment capability, one of President Barack Obama’s top foreign-policy initiatives. PM thanks US for decades of friendship, but warns joint session against an emerging deal that will ‘pave path’ to Iranian nuke Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver will not join fellow Democrats in boycotting Tuesday’s controversial speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “As a Member of Congress, I feel it is my duty to attend and listen respectfully,” Cleaver said in a statement. More than 50 Democrats plan to skip Netanyahu’s speech before a joint session of Congress on Tuesday because they say his appearance undermines President Barack Obama. They are upset that House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, invited Netanyhu to speak without clearing it with the White House. The speech also comes at a politically sensitive time as Netanyahu faces re-election in Israel. Many of those who chose to skip Netanyahu’s speech Tuesday are members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including chairman Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a civil rights icon. Cleaver, who previously served as chairman of the caucus, said in a statement Tuesday that he decided to attend Netanyahu’s speech “after much consideration” because it was the civil thing to do. “This event has added more heat than light to the already acrimonious atmosphere in the halls of Congress,” said Cleaver, a minister who often writes “Dear Colleague” letters to other lawmakers, urging them to tone down bipartisan rancor.