I made the observation to many during August that I thought September would be an incredibly explosive time in Washington.

Statement

I made the observation to many during August that I thought September would be an incredibly explosive time in Washington. Congress reconvened yesterday, and that's already proving to be the case today.

We were to have taken a vote on what's called the "Rule' that would have set the debate on the Iran nuclear deal over the next few days. Instead, we had a contentious conference meeting (a gathering of all Republican members of the House of Representatives) this morning, and Rep. Peter Roskam of Illinois made the very strong case that proceeding with this vote would be to codify the President's disregard of the Corker bill that he himself signed into law just a matter of weeks ago. That bill laid out a number of conditions that would be necessary for Congress to proceed with a vote, chief among them was transparency and the chance for Congress to begin review until both the deal was submitted as well as all side deals. The principle at play is an important one. For laws to have meaning, they must be adhered to…and outside of the merits and demerits of the Iran deal, this principle should matter to every one of us, given the way our Founding Fathers set us up to be a nation of laws and not men.

All this is a long way of saying that the sentiments expressed at this morning's conference have spilled over and derailed what would have been a 1:00 pm vote on the rule. Instead, we are now meeting again at 4:00 this afternoon to debate within the conference on whether to proceed or not with debate and a vote on the Iran deal.

In that vein, I just dropped by a Stop the Iran Bill Rally a few moments ago, and it was interesting to talk with people from all over the country who had come to be a part of making a stand. I believe that stand is as much about the sanctity of the rule of law as it is about the Iran deal.

I will keep you posted as things develop…they're certainly developing quickly.

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