Cotton on Corker-Menendez

The Corker-Melendez bill is obviously an imperfect vehicle for introducing congressional oversight to President Obama’s catastrophic arrangement in process with Iran. Is it better than nothing, as the Wall Street Journal argues, is it much ado about nothing, as Paul argues, or is it worse than nothing, as Matt Continetti argues?

I wanted to know what Senator Tom Cotton thinks and therefore reached out to his office for help in bringing his views to our readers, as we have throughout this fiasco. Senator Cotton’s office has directed me to the videos below from earlier this morning. Let me say up front without more that these clips are both worth your time.

In the more recent of the two clips here, Senator Cotton appeared on FOX News for an interview with Bill Hemmer (below, five minutes). The focus is on Iran and Corker-Menendez.

In the clip below, Senator Cotton is interviewed by Bill Bennett on Bill’s Morning in America show (audio below, 15 minutes). This is intensely interesting. At the outset, Senator Cotton draws a deeply disturbing parallel between Obama’s treatment of Iran and of Cuba. They get to the Corker-Melendez bill at 6:15 or so.

I read Senator Cotton as a reserved supporter of Corker-Melendez. I take it he believes the bill slightly better than nothing.

He notes that the passage of the bill represents a defeat for the Obama administration. He states, however, that his interest is in stopping the arrangement. He observes the problematic structure of the bill, requiring a two-thirds to stop an agreement rather than a two-thirds vote to ratify an agreement. “I’m supporting anything we can do to shine a light,” he says in this context. Finally, I infer that he favors the bill because it marginally increases the chance of stopping what would otherwise have been presented to Congress as a fait accompli.

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