Freshman Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) defended his opposition Sunday to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry's proposed nuclear agreement with Iran by explaining a "simple fact of our constitution" to veteran CBS journalist and host of "Face the Nation" Bob Schieffer.
BOCA RATON, FL - OCTOBER 22: Moderator Bob Schieffer of CBS looks on as U.S. President Barack Obama debates with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the Keith C. and Elaine Johnson Wold Performing Arts Center at Lynn University on October 22, 2012 in Boca Raton, Florida. The focus for the final presidential debate before Election Day on November 6 is foreign policy. (Credit: Getty Images)
Schieffer asked Cotton, who was newly-elected in November 2014, why he and 46 other Republican senators decided to try to go directly to the Iranians instead of taking their argument to the American people. One example Schieffer gave for how they might have done that was to write an open letter in the New York Times.
"Iran's leaders needed to hear the message loud and clear," Cotton responded. "I can tell you they are not hearing that message from Geneva. In fact, if you look at the response of the Iranian foreign minister...it underscores the need for the letter in the first place because he made it clear that he does not understand our constitutional system."
"He thinks that international law can override our constitution," Cotton said.
Schieffer went on to question the Arkansas senator on whether he plans to contact "any other of our adversaries," such as North Korea, to which Cotton responded right now he is focused on stopping Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
"But how does it make America stronger to tell them any agreement they make with this administration may not be worth the paper it's written on," Schieffer asked. "That it may not last beyond this presidency? How does that make things better?"
"It's a simple fact of our constitution that if Congress doesn't approve that deal that it may not last and the deal that's on the table right now is a very bad deal," Cotton replied.
"Since you brought up North Korea, I would point out that in 1994 the United States entered into something called Agreed Framework to stop North Korea from getting a bomb they almost immediately started cheating on it and a mere 12 years later they detonated their first nuclear weapon," Cotton pointed out.
"Now the world has to live with the consequences of a nuclear North Korea. I don't want the world to live with the consequences of a nuclear Iran," Cotton added.
(H/T: Mediaite)
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