For most people paying attention to the nuclear negotiations with Iran, US lawmakers fall neatly into one of two categories: Either they're eager to give free rein to President Barack Obama's diplomats, or they're determined to toughen American demands — even at the risk of derailing talks.
Administration Skeptics
Robert Menendez
D-N.J.
Bob Corker
R-Tenn.
Defenders of Israel
Mark Kirk
R-Ill.
Chuck Schumer
D-N.Y.
Geostrategists
John McCain
R-Ariz.
Lindsey Graham
R-S.C.
War Veteran
Tom Cotton
R-Ark.
Iran Skeptic
Marco Rubio
R-Fla.
Robert Menendez, D-N.J.
Ranking member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Co-sponsor of a bill to give Congress a vote on a final deal and another to gradually impose sanctions if a deal hasn't been transmitted to Congress by July 6
"The more I hear from the administration ... the more it sounds like talking points that come straight out of Tehran. And it feeds to the Iranian narrative of victimization when they are the ones with original sin - an illicit nuclear weapons program, going back over the course of 20 years, that they are unwilling to come clean on." Source
Bob Corker, R-Tenn.
Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Author of legislation mandating an up-or-down vote on a final deal with Iran
"I don't know how any senator who came here to deal with the big issues of the day cannot support [the notion] that at some point we should have a role in ratifying what is going to be probably the biggest geopolitical agreement that this administration will ever be involved in. And by the way we were the central force in causing this negotiation to take place in the first place." Source
Mark Kirk, R-Ill.
Member, Senate Banking Committee
Co-author of pending sanctions legislation with Sen. Menendez
"It’s the reason why I ran for the Senate, [it] is all wrapped up in this battle. I am totally dedicated to the survival of the state of Israel in the 21st century.” Source
Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
Member, Senate Banking Committee
Number 3 Democrat in the Senate
"Democrats and Republicans are going to work together to see that we don’t let up on these sanctions…until Iran gives up not only its nuclear weapons, but all nuclear weapon capability, all enriched uranium. Every time the Arab world, the Palestinians, have risen against us, we have risen to defeat them. The one existential threat to Israel’s existence is a nuclear Iran.” Source
John McCain, R-Ariz.
Chairman, Senate Armed Services Committee
"Iran is on the march throughout. In Yemen, it's not AQAP that has taken over the government. It's the Houthis, who, guess what, are backed and supported by the Iranians. The Iranians are now either dominant or extremely influential in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen. They're on the move in Bahrain. And they are winning." Source
Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Member, Senate Armed Services and Appropriations committees
"Iran is on the march. There are four Arab capitals under the influence of the Iranians at a time we’re trying to negotiate with this new ‘moderate’ regime. The Houthis in Yemen are Iranian-backed. Assad is completely under the control of Iran. You’ve got a problem in Iraq and Lebanon.” Source
Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
Freshman member, Senate Armed Services and Banking committees
Author of open letter to Iran warning that Congress and future presidents could unravel a bad deal
"Iran has been killing Americans for more than three decades [...] More recently and personally for me, Iran has been responsible for the killing and maiming of thousands of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. During my tour in Baghdad leading an infantry platoon, Iran supplied the most advanced, most lethal roadside bombs used against coalition forces. My soldiers and I knew that Iranian-supplied bombs were the one thing our armored vehicles couldn’t withstand. All we could do was hope it wasn’t our day to hit one. My platoon was lucky; too many others were not." Source
Marco Rubio, R-Fla.
Member, Foreign Relations Committee
Potential 2016 presidential candidate
"We are ascribing to his regime, nation-state characteristics of a normal country that has a cost-benefit analysis about what's in the national interest of Iran, and I don't dispute that there might be some political leaders in Iran that hold those views. But the ayatollah, the Supreme Leader, he doesn't view it that way. He views not just his calling but his obligation to bring about the arrival of the 13th imam and to unify the world under the flag of radical Islam as he defines it. Under his clerical interpretation, and that of many Shia, the 13th imam cannot emerge until there is a cataclysmic showdown between the Muslim and non-Muslim world. And when a country led by a person who wants there to be a cataclysmic showdown between the Muslim and non-Muslim world has designs on a nuclear weapon, now we have cause for great concern. And that's why they expand their military capability and that's why they want a nuclear weapon." Source