WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate Banking Committee voted 18-4 on Thursday to advance a bill that would toughen sanctions on Iran if international negotiators fail to reach an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program by the end of June.
The bill, however, is not expected to come up for a vote in the full Senate until at least March 24. Ten Democrats, including the bill’s co-author, Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey, announced an agreement earlier this week to hold off for two months to allow time to reach a diplomatic solution.
Republicans need these votes to pass the bill, and even more votes to override a veto threatened by President Barack Obama, who has called the measure a threat to the continuing nuclear talks with Iran.
In the committee, only four Democrats voted against the bill, which was also sponsored by Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois. The other six joined the panel’s 12-member Republican majority to pass it.
“This legislation has been carefully calibrated to achieve our ultimate goal, which is to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapon capability,” Menendez said.
The panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, voted no. He called on lawmakers to wait until June to pass any more sanctions, reflecting an intense debate in Congress about how it should best seek to influence the talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
“If negotiations fail, Congress and the president will join hands in applying greater pressure. And we will be in a far better position to ask the rest of the world to join us,” Brown said.
Separately, a White House spokesman issued another veto threat on Thursday, saying Obama would veto a bill being developed by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tennessee, and Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, that would require congressional approval for any nuclear deal with Tehran.
After more than 18 months of negotiations, the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have agreed with Iran to try to reach a political understanding by the end of March, with a view to a full-blown deal by a self-imposed June 30 deadline.