A House Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee told PJM today at AIPAC that he doesn’t foresee a point where tough-on-Iran Democrats break from the president on his policy toward Tehran.
Rep. Ted Deutch, a Florida freshman who is a co-sponsor on a bipartisan resolution that stresses containment is not an option and urges President Obama to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, spoke on a panel at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference about the Iranian threat in Latin America.
The companion version in the Senate similarly has strong bipartisan representation with nearly half of the chamber signed on as co-sponsors.
“I think that that resolution will have the strongest possible support from Democrats and Republicans,” Deutch said. “It will be a very bipartisan showing of support standing up to the Iranian nuclear threat.”
Given that strident bipartisanship, which has even included the pairing of Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) and Mike Pence (R-Ind.) — “They’re a great team,” Deutch said — on an effort to persuade Obama to act quickly to stop Iran, I asked the congressman if he believes there’s a point when these Democrats break with the president on Iran.
“No,” Deutch quickly responded. “I think the president made clear today, just as our resolution does, that containment is not an option, that it is the policy of the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
“That has to be our policy,” he added. “I’ve said it, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle have said it, the president said it today.”
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