NEW YORK – Today, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously passed a new bipartisan Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (S.615), authored by Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and, in part, Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD). The Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the international association for Conservative/Masorti Rabbis, praised the compromise and the bipartisan measures taken to reach an agreement as well as the announcement that President Obama will sign this bill into law. Rabbi William Gershon, president, and Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president, released the following statement:
Today, we saw great strides for bipartisanship in the Senate with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously adopting a new Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 (S.615) with strong support from both parties. As the Iran negotiations continue, we hope that today’s vote is a harbinger of more bipartisan cooperation on this difficult and complex issue. We applaud President Obama for his willingness to sign the bill even though he does not wholeheartedly agree with all its measures. We also recognize the emotional and powerful connection that the president feels for Israel that he shared at a White House meeting with leading Jewish groups, including the RA.