The House is slated to vote on a bill Wednesday placing new sanctions on Iran following the discovery the country breached its nuclear agreement with the United States and five other nations by seeking illegal nuclear technology and testing nuclear-capable missiles.
The Iran Accountability Act of 2016 – spearheaded by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy – would place sanctions on the nation for its multiple human rights violations and the continuation of its ballistic missile program.
“What’s unsurprising to me is Iran is not living up to its end of the bargain, the deal didn’t accomplish what the president said it would – you look at the ballistic missiles and what they’re doing, so it [the bill] puts sanctions on them and the countries that help their missile development,” McCarthy told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “I really think this shows what America truly believes and gives us an opportunity to voice that opinion.”
House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland slammed the measure for not being constructed in bipartisan manner, adding he expects most Democrats to oppose it.
“I have made a suggestion to both Mr. McCarthy and Mr. Ryan that we could proceed and I thought we could create significant bipartisan votes proceeding in dealing with Iran,” Hoyer told reporters. “It continues to be a bad actor, it continues to do things which destabilize the Middle East, continues to do things that undermine the safety and security of the region, which cause great concerns among out Middle Eastern allies.”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also sent a letter to colleagues in the lower chamber encouraging them to vote against the legislation Tuesday.
Despite seeing some pushback from Democratic leadership, McCarthy hold out hope it will receive some bipartisan support.
“Maybe there are some members on the other side of the aisle that realize that the Iran deal did not live up to what the administration said it would do or what Iran said it would do,” the California Republican told TheDCNF. “It’s interesting, I’ve had a number of members on the other side come to me and say they liked the bill.”
Two additional bills related to Iran are also set to be voted on Wednesday – a bill designed to prevent the Iranian government from gaining access to the U.S. dollar pioneered by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce, while the second measure would stop any federal department or agency from purchasing hard water from the country, a measure introduced by Rep. Mike Pompeo of Kansas.
The White House said it will veto any legislation that interferes with the Iran nuclear agreement.
All three bills are expected to pass the lower chamber.
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