The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed legislation Thursday assuring lawmakers have the right to review, and perhaps reject, any nuclear deal that President Barack Obama reaches with Iran.
The measure, which passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 400 to 25. Only six Democrats and 19 Republican disagreed.
One week after the bill cleared the Senate, now goes to the White House, with Obama signaling he will sign it.
A framework agreement was reached with Iran on April 2 in Lausanne, where negotiators laid out several bullet points, including one asserting that economic sanctions would snap back into place should Iran be found violating the accord.
The period up to June 30 is being used to iron out several remaining technical details.
House Speaker John Boehner lauded the bill, saying lawmakers must have a role in examining a prospective deal with Iran.
“The American people are worried – and America’s allies are worried – that the White House will do anything to get one. So my colleagues and I have one goal: stop a bad deal,” he said in a statement.
House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Ed Royce said the bill made clear that lawmakers would not let the Obama administration “shut Congress out of the process” of approving a nuclear accord.
“Congress will be in a much better position to judge any final agreement to ensure that the Obama administration hasn’t struck a bad deal.”
The bill will allow lawmakers at least 30 days to review any final Iran nuclear pact.
The legislation would also compel the president to report back to Congress every 90 days about Iran’s compliance with the deal.
Lawmakers would have the ability to support or oppose the pact by voting for or against lifting congressionally imposed sanctions on Iran.
Should Congress pass a resolution opposing the accord, Obama would have 12 days to veto it. If he does, Congress would have 10 more days to override the veto.
