e-News 7/17/15

• “A Major Victory for Iran:” The “Historic” Nuclear Agreement
• The Wisdom of GEN Joe Dunford
• Getting Things Done in Congress
• Another Win for Patients: The Steve Gleason Act
• Salute: New Horizons!
• Salute: Morristown’s Schuyler-Hamilton House

“A major Victory for Iran:” The “Historic” Nuclear Agreement

The President of the United States took to the airwaves and the internet early Tuesday morning to announce an “historic” agreement with Iran and other nations designed to halt Iran’s ongoing nuclear weapons development program.

Yes, the agreement may be “historic” but for all the wrong reasons.   In fact, at first glance, the deal appears to be a major victory for Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism and a regime with American blood on its hands. 

The House and Senate will have 60 days to review the specifics.  However, I fear as we examine the details, we will uncover multiple concessions that serve purely Iranian political, economic and military goals, not America’s. 

For example, the President insists that “this deal is not built on trust, it is built on verification.”  But the plan apparently allows Iran to create significant delays – nearly a month - when UN inspectors seek access to multiple sensitive or suspicious sites.

Instead of phased removal of the sanctions that brought Iran to the bargaining table in the first place, this agreement removes them immediately after Iran satisfies some initial obligations.  Of course, the lifting of sanctions will provide Iran an immediate economic boost with which to further reinforce their reputation as the world’s leading terrorist state.  Further, the agreement endorses lifting sanctions, from General Qasem Soleimani, among other leaders. He’s the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s elite Quds Force – a man directly responsible for the death of possibly as many as 500 American soldiers.

Of course, I will carefully examine all facets of the announced agreement.  However, from what I have seen so far, this document is “historic” for the wrong reasons.  I pledge to fight any agreement that further jeopardizes U.S. national security and Middle East stability.  

To read more, see William Westhoven’s article in the Morris CountyDaily Record here.

Additional reading on the Iran Nuclear Agreement:

Ambassador Ron Dermer’s Op Ed in the Tuesday Washington Post, “Four major Problems with the Iran deal.”

Read “8 Unplanned Results of the Iran Deal, Get ready. A lot of really ugly stuff is about to happen” by Danielle Pletka in Politico here.

“General Dunford’s Common Sense”

David Adesnik is the policy director of the Foreign Policy Initiative and this week he wrote an analysis of the confirmation hearing for General Joe Dunford, nominee to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. 

“In his testimony, General Dunford gave candid assessments of the many growing threats that the U.S. and its allies face around the globe. Such candor is long overdue at the White House, where habitual passivity and a hesitation to confront America’s adversaries has done extensive damage to the country’s credibility and strength over the past six years.”

Here are some more quotes from Adesnik’s piece:

“Whereas President Obama refuses to provide Ukrainian forces with the weapons they need to defend themselves from Putin’s onslaught, General Dunford said plainly, “without that kind of support, they’re not going to be able to protect themselves against Russian aggression.” Since Congress has already given President Obama the authority to arm Kiev, it is only the President’s intransigence that stands in the way…”

“Nor is there any reason to be complacent about ISIS. “If we were to fail in stopping ISIL,” Dunford observed, “I think you'll see an expansion of ISIL not only across the Middle East but outside the Middle East.” Whereas the President refuses to embed American advisors in frontline units in Iraq, General Dunford said this approach can strengthen the ground forces on which American strategy now depends to roll back ISIS. “It’s been my experience,” the general said, “that when U.S. forces have [accompanied] Iraqis or, for that matter, my experience in Afghanistan, that those units are more effective…”

“President Obama has also made a choice to prevent Congress from providing the military with additional resources, so that it can prepare for an uncertain future. While his current budget request asks for an additional $35 billion per year for the Pentagon, the President refuses to accept this money unless and until Congress also provides a similar increase to fund the President’s domestic agenda. This position reflects mistaken priorities. As the editors of the Washington Post commented, “When all is said and done, national defense is a clear constitutional responsibility of the federal government; fully funding it should take priority...”

I encourage you to read his whole article here.

Getting Things Done in Congress

The House Appropriations Committee this week completed its work on its 12th and final funding measure for the fiscal year that begins onOctober 1. This is the first time since 2009 that all Appropriations bills have been approved by the full Committee. 

These 12 bills save taxpayer dollars by prioritizing funding and reducing or eliminating areas of waste and inefficiency. They make tremendous strides to reduce bureaucratic red tape that stifles economic growth. Simply put, these are good bills that should be enacted into law. 

However, I would note that Democrats in the United States Senate have refused to allow consideration of ANY appropriations bills in that body because they support the President’s push for more domestic spending.  With time dwindling before the end of the fiscal year, we hope that all sides can come together to find common ground on an overall budget agreement which will fund all operations of the federal government, especially defense and national security.

Another Win for Patients: The Steve Gleason Act

The House this week joined the Senate in passing S. 984, the Steve Gleason Act (S. 984), to help restore the ability of a person with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, to upgrade their speech generating device (SGD).  The measure also helps these patients to access email, the internet and environmental controls.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.  Many people have followed the story of Steve Gleason, a former NFL player now afflicted with ALS.

The Steve Gleason Act helps those who cannot use their own voice. This legislation will help ensure that people with disabilities have more opportunities when seeking treatments, cures and independence.

Read more about The Steve Gleason Act, S. 984, here.

Salute: To the men and women behind the NASA mission of the New Horizons spacecraft.  The unmanned, piano-sized spacecraft streaked past Pluto this week at a speed 31,000 miles per hour. Launched in 2006, New Horizons will continue traveling out into the Kuiper Belt, a region scientists think is filled with thousands of other small, icy worlds. Scientists say the probe will continue sending back data about Pluto for several months.

To learn more, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/newhorizons/main/index.html

Salute:The Schuyler-Hamilton House in Morristown.  Learn more about this historic site in the Monday New York Times.