WASHINGTON – Democratic Reps. Brendan Boyle, of Philadelphia, and Donald Norcross, of South Jersey, broke with their party and President Obama to vote against the international nuclear deal with Iran Friday, joining every Republican in the region in opposing the agreement.
All other local Democrats – including Philadelphia's Bob Brady and Chaka Fattah – supported the pact in a charged but largely symbolic vote held on the 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
At one point in the debate Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican from Western Pennsylvania, stood on the House floor alongside a poster-sized photo of the World Trade Center engulfed in smoke and flames.
Republicans Charlie Dent, Ryan Costello, Mike Fitzpatrick and Pat Meehan (all of Pennsylvania) and Frank LoBiondo and Tom MacArthur (of South Jersey) opposed the deal. No Republicans voted in favor of it.
Boyle and Norcross were two of 25 House Democrats to vote against the agreement, and had announced their intentions well before Friday. Like most Democrats, they voted against a second measure that would bar Obama from lifting Iran sanctions for two years.
With the sanctions relief provided by the deal, "Tehran's coffers will be flush with cash to fund Iranian terror around the world," Meehan said in a floor speech before the votes.
"There are no do-overs when it comes to a nuclear bomb," Norcross said in a news release after the vote. "America and our allies can negotiate a better deal that truly dismantles Iran's nuclear program."
Supporters have argued that the agreement is the best way to constrain Iran's nuclear ambition and monitor the country's nuclear activity.
The House voted 269-162 against the agreement, with one lawmaker voting "present." But the vote won't stop the international pact. Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a plan in that chamber to kill the accord.
Republicans plan to continue pressing the issue, though. Meehan could see a vote next week on a bill that would bar the U.S. from lifting sanctions until Iran pays the $43 billion in damages that U.S. courts have ruled it owes to terror victims.
Senate Republicans plan to hold another vote on the deal itself, though the outcome is likely to be the same.
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