PORTLAND, Maine — Sen. Angus King of Maine and former Maine Sen. George Mitchell are poised to kick off a forum to discuss the proposed nuclear deal with Iran this evening at the University of Southern Maine.
King, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, announced his support for the Iran nuclear deal earlier this month but with qualifications. He said determining how to vote on the question is the most difficult decision he’s had to make as a U.S. senator.
“There are risks in either direction and credible arguments can be made on both sides,” King said in remarks he made Aug. 5 on the Senate floor. “But in the end, I have concluded that the terms of this agreement are preferable to the alternatives and that it would be in the best interest of the United States to join our partners in approving it. … If this deal moves forward, it will fall to future presidents and future congresses to oversee it and make it work.”
Mitchell, former U.S. Senate majority leader, chairman of the Northern Ireland peace negotiations and U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, also favors the deal, according to an Aug. 10 column he wrote for the Bangor Daily News
“Although many countries could become capable of producing nuclear weapons, only nine now have them,” Mitchell said. “Most have voluntarily refrained, in reliance on the United State and on the nuclear nonproliferation agreement. If Iran becomes the 10th nuclear power, that restraint could collapse and the number could grow quickly.”
King and Mitchell will be joined by former U.S. Ambassador Nicholas Burns this evening at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus. The forum takes place less than a month before the Senate is expected to vote on the deal.
Under the deal, economic sanctions on Iran that have been in place for years would be lifted when Iran proves it has removed centrifuges and uranium stockpiles, among other requirements. Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium but only to a level well below what could be weaponized, and the country would allow international inspectors into the country for 25 years.
That sunset provision and others in the proposed deal have made the prospect of passage through Congress uncertain, especially in the Senate, where two prominent Democrats have broken ranks with Obama to oppose the deal.
It would take 60 votes in the Senate to pass a resolution against the deal and 67 votes to override a presidential veto of that resolution.
House members — mostly Republicans — have lined up in opposition. Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin of Maine’s 2nd Congressional District is one of them.
“As I have often said, I will not support any deal that leads to the likelihood of nuclear weapons for Iran — ever,” Poliquin said in a written statement Wednesday after an Associated Press report that Iranian inspectors might be allowed to self-police a nuclear site.
Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is undecided about her stance, though she has voiced concern about lifting an arms embargo on Iran and some of the details of the inspection regime. A recent Los Angeles Times article speculated Collins will vote against the deal.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine’s 1st Congressional District has voiced support for the deal.
“I hope my colleagues in Congress don’t let partisan politics stand in the way of approving what could be a historic deal to stop the spread of nuclear weapons,” Pingree said earlier this summer.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.
