Cruz Iran Letter Uses the Royal 'We'

By Niels Lesniewski

Posted April 17, 2015 at 4:17pm

Sen. Ted Cruz fired off a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry Friday that declared “we” are making requests for the countries involved in the Iran talks — even though no other senators signed the letter.

The Texas Republican, who is seeking his party’s nomination for president in 2016, said without congressional approval or Senate consent to ratification of a treaty, any final agreement between the P5+1 negotiators and the Iranians could be null and void with a future administration.

“We standby to engage in this vital work, and in order to do it responsibly, it is imperative that Members of Congress have clarity on whatever is actually in this framework. We also suggest that the American people, whom we were elected to represent, also share in this knowledge,” Cruz wrote. “We therefore request all members of the P5+1 and Iran produce and make public a joint framework agreement outlining the parameters that have been agreed upon, and those that will be addressed in the event negotiations continue in both classified and unclassified form.”

Cruz is highlighting the public disagreement between the negotiating parties about the terms of the initial framework agreement, not a new concern among Republicans.

But the letter was a bit unusual in that it was initially circulated by Cruz’s office without any other signatories and still made use of the plural pronoun “we.”

After CQ Roll Call pointed out the mistake, Cruz’s office edited the letter.

The full text of the original letter appears below:

Dear Secretary Kerry:

The March 31, 2015 deadline for the framework agreement between the P5+1 and Iran has come and gone. While there appears to be consensus that some agreement was reached (the so-called “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”), there is no consensus on the actual parameters of that agreement-including such critical items as the scope of Iran’s ongoing nuclear program, the extent of the IAEA verification regime, and the schedule for nuclear-related sanctions relief by both the United States and the international community.

The Department of State released a fact sheet on the JCPA on April 2, 2015, but since that date discrepancies on key elements of the framework have come to light. Not only was this fact sheet not approved by the P5+1 or the Government of Iran, but it is also inconsistent with fact sheets and statements released by the EU, Iran, and, reportedly, France.

As you know, absent Congressional approval in the form of Senate ratification as a treaty or passage into law by both Houses, any agreement the Obama administration reaches with Iran will not be binding on future administrations. We standby to engage in this vital work, and in order to do it responsibly, it is imperative that Members of Congress have clarity on whatever is actually in this framework. We also suggest that the American people, whom we were elected to represent, also share in this knowledge.

We therefore request all members of the P5+1 and Iran produce and make public a joint framework agreement outlining the parameters that have been agreed upon, and those that will be addressed in the event negotiations continue in both classified and unclassified form.

Sincerely,

Ted Cruz

United States Senator