Paul Cook, the Congressional Representative for the district that includes the Morongo Basin, has registered his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal supported by President Obama. Cook has voted against a House of Representatives resolution that would approve the deal, and for resolutions that criticize the President’s actions with respect to the Iran Nuclear Review Act, and call for suspension of sanctions relief for Iran. The government-sponsored web site that tracks the progress and prospects of congressional bills and resolutions gives the bills both for and against the nuclear deal a 1% chance of enactment. On Friday, the same day that Cook’s office published a press release about his opposition to the Iran deal, national news outlets (New York Times, CNN, Christian Science Monitor…) declared the effort to stop the deal effectively dead. The laws governing congressional review of Presidential foreign policy decisions require a two-thirds majority to stop such decisions, and the Obama administration has been able to hold enough Democrats in line to prevent that from happening.
