The Center for Security Policy has organized the sending of a letter to United States senators backing their stance on President Obama’s “framework agreement” with Iran. The text of the letter is below, included in a CSP press release. Full disclosure: I’m one of the more than 150 signatories to this letter.

Over 150 National Security Experts, Concerned Citizens Express Gratitude to Sen. Tom Cotton and Colleagues for Leadership on Iran

Washington, DC— Today, over 150 national security experts, former Senior military and government leaders, public policy practitioners and other American patriots have written to Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and 46 other United States Senators. They expressed their gratitude for the letter they wrote to the Iran’s leaders serving notice on them that in accordance with the United States Constitution, any agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei reach on Iran’s nuclear program will be considered to be only an executive agreement that can be revoked by the next president or modified by congress — unless it is approved by the legislative branch.

The letter, organized by the Center for Security Policy, states in part:

“Given the chimerical nature of the so-called framework agreement — which is, at the moment, being characterized in wildly different ways by the various parties, raising profound uncertainty about the nature and extent of the commitments Iran is making, their actual value in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapons program, the timing and extent of sanctions relief, etc. — the need for congressional oversight, advice and consent concerning any accord that flows from that agreement can no longer responsibly be denied.“

“It would be a serious affront to the Constitution and to the American people were an agreement of this potentially enormous strategic consequence not to be submitted for such action by the Congress. Grievous insult would be added to injury should the United Nations Security Council instead be asked to approve it.”

Among the signatories of the letter were:

Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, USA (Ret.), Former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence

Admiral James A. Lyons, USN (Ret.), Former Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Former Chief, Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

Ambassador Henry F. Cooper, Former Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative, Chief U.S. Negotiator to the Geneva Defense and Space Talks

Ambassador Eric M. Javits (Ret.), PermRep and Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Hon. Joseph E. Schmitz, Former Inspector General of the Department of Defense

Andy McCarthy, Former Chief Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York

Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell, Former U.S. Ambassador, U.N. Human Rights Commission

Lt. Col. M.L. “Buzz” Hefti, USMC (Ret.), Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Legislative Affairs

Kenneth deGraffenreid, Former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs; Former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy; Former Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive

Oliver “Buck” Revell, Former Associate Deputy Director — Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation; Chairman, Board of Directors, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

Gary Bauer, Christians United for Israel

Michael Ledeen, Freedom Scholar, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Matthew Brooks, Executive Director, Republican Jewish Coalition

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr., President & CEO of the Center for Security Policy and a signatory to the letter, stated:

“Today, as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee considers whether the Senate must perform its constitutional duty as a check-and-balance on international agreements that can have far-reaching national security implications, it is to be hoped that the panel’s members will by guided by the open letter to the Iranian leadership signed by Senator Tom Cotton and forty-six of his colleagues. The appreciation expressed for that letter by over 150 Americans, who share a commitment to the common defense and concern about the defects of President Obama’s so-called ‘framework agreement,’ is a reminder that millions of our countrymen are counting on their elected representatives in Congress to perform quality-control on the executive branch’s deeply problematic conduct of the negotiations with Iran.”

The full text of the letter, with signatures, can be found below.

14 April 2015

Hon. Tom Cotton
United States Senate
B-33 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Cotton:

Each passing day seems to bring new and worrying revelations about the “framework agreement” that President Obama claims to have achieved with the Islamic Republic of Iran and five other nations. This “deal” is supposed to determine future restrictions on Iran’s nuclear ambitions. The cumulative effect of these insights is a powerful affirmation of the effort you and forty-six of your Senate colleagues made last month to put the mullahs on notice that any such deal would require congressional assent. We write to commend you for taking this important initiative.

In particular, we want to thank you for the American civics lesson you gave the Iranian leaders with this cautionary note: “…We will consider any agreement regarding your nuclear-weapons program that is not approved by the Congress as nothing more than an executive agreement between President Obama and Ayatollah Khamenei. The next president could revoke such an executive agreement with the stroke of a pen and future Congresses could modify the terms of the agreement at any time.” Your courageous warning bespoke a patriotic commitment to our Constitution and its separation of powers that is deeply appreciated.

Given the chimerical nature of the so-called framework agreement — which is, at the moment, being characterized in wildly different ways by the various parties, raising profound uncertainty about the nature and extent of the commitments Iran is making, their actual value in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapons program, the timing and extent of sanctions relief, etc. — the need for congressional oversight, advice and consent concerning any accord that flows from that agreement can no longer responsibly be denied.

It would be a serious affront to the Constitution and to the American people were an agreement of this potentially enormous strategic consequence not to be submitted for such action by the Congress. Grievous insult would be added to injury should the United Nations Security Council instead be asked to approve it.

Again we thank you for your leadership in ensuring that the constitutionally mandated process for assuring quality-control on international agreements is followed in this case. We urge you and your colleagues to insist on nothing less going forward.

cc: 46 other signatories of the Cotton Letter

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.
President & CEO
Center for Security Policy

Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin
U.S. Army (Ret.)
Former Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense for Intelligence

Lt. Col. M. L. “Buzz” Hefti USMC (Ret.)
Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense,
Legislative Affairs

Admiral James A. Lyons USN (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief,
U.S. Pacific Fleet

Andy McCarthy
Former Chief Assistant United States Attorney
Southern District of New York

Fred Fleitz
Senior Vice President for Policy & Programs
Center for Security Policy

Clare Lopez
Vice President of Research & Analysis
Center for Security Policy

Lt. Gen. Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.)
Former Chief
Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance

Lt. Col. Roy White (Ret.)
Chapter Coordinator
ACT! for America, San Antonio

Ambassador Eric M. Javits (Ret.)
PermRep and Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament
Organization for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons

Ambassador Henry F. Cooper
Former Director of the Strategic Defense Initiative
Chief U.S. Negotiator to the Geneva Defense and Space Talks

Admiral Tom Hayward USN (Ret.)

Honorable Allen B. Clark
Former Assistant Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs

Hon. Joseph E. Schmitz
Former Inspector General of the Department of Defense

Hon. J. Kenneth Blackwell
Former U.S. Ambassador
U.N. Human Rights Commission

Hon. Thomas W. O’Connell
Former Assistant Secretary
Defense (Special Operations)

Kenneth deGraffenreid
Former Special Asst. to the President,
For National Security Affairs, Reagan
Fmr Deputy Undersecretary of Defense, Policy
Fmr Deputy National Counterintelligence Executive

Richard A. Viguerie
Chairman
ConservativeHQ.com

Jay W. Dickey, Jr.
Former U.S. Representative
Fourth Congressional District, Arkansas

George Rasley
Editor
Conservative HQ.com

Allen Roth
Secure America Now

Scott Brauer
Navy SEAL Officer (Ret.)

Dr. Steve Greer
CSM, USA (Ret.)

Charles L. Sues
Colonel USA (Ret.)

Warren Elliott
Former Officer Lt., USN

Bob Rohrer
U.S. Marine Veteran

Russell Thomas
U.S. Army
Rachel’s Children International

Bruce Brotman
Former Senior Executive at FBI
Former Senior Executive at TSA

Wayne Ronald Boyles, III
Former Senior Legislative Assistant
the Late U.S. Senator Jesse Helms

C. Preston Noell III
President
Tradition, Family, Property, Inc.

Roger Noriega
Former Assistant Secretary of State
Western Hemisphere Affairs

Matthew Brooks
Executive Director
Republican Jewish Coalition

Noah Silverman
Congressional Affairs Director
Republican Jewish Coalition

David J. Frum
Author and Commentator

Starr Pitzer
President
Pitzer Group, Inc.

Tom Trento
Director
The United West

Rick Manning
President
Americans for Limited Government

Elaine Donnelly
President
Center for Military Readiness

Dr. Daniel Goure
Vice President
Lexington Institute

Morton Klein
National President
Zionist Organization of America

Daniel Pollak
Co-Director Government Relations
Zionist Organization of America

Joshua London
Co-Director Government Relations
Zionist Organization of America

Floyd W. “Wink” McKinnon
President
Cotswold Industries, Inc.

Seton Motley
Founder & President
Less Government

Oliver “Buck” Revell
Former Associate Deputy Director — Investigations
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Chairman, Board of Directors
Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)

Andrew Bostom, MD
Author, “The Legacy of Jihad”
“Iran’s Final Solution for Israel”

Robert Jackall
Willmott Family Professor
Williams College

Alice Linahan
Vice President
Women On The Wall

Judy Taibi
President
Ingenuity Partners

Phyllis Kaminsky
Former Director
United Nations Information Center

Stuart Kaufman
Coordinator of Special Operations, The United West
Columnist, Charleston Mercury

Jack David
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
Combating Weapons of Mass Destruction & Negotiations Policy

Nicholas F.S. Papanicolaou
Author and Worldwide Leader
Sovereign Order of Saint John of Jerusalem,
Knights of Malta

Dr. Daniel Pipes
President
Middle East Forum

Daria Novak
President
Institute for American Politics

Penny Nancy
President
Concerned Women for America

J. L. Jackson
CEO (Ret.)
Fortune 500 Corporation

Morton Blackwell
Chairman
The Weyrich Lunch

Walter P. Stern
Chairman Emeritus
The Hudson Institute

Diana West
Journalist and Author
“American Betrayal: The Secret Assault
on Our Nation’s Character”

Ron Woodard
Director
NC Listen

Dee Hodges
President
Maryland Taxpayers Association

Linda Loomis, P.A.
Realtor
John R. Wood Properties

George A. Keyworth, II
Science Advisor to the President
(1981-1986)

Paula A. DeSutter
Assistant Secretary of State
Verification and Compliance (2002-2009)

Dr. Jack A. Milavic
US Army Retired
FFA and DOS Retired

Jeffrey W. Bayard
Publisher
Right Side News

Norman Jenulis
Retired Wall Street VP

Dr. Elie D. Krakowski
Former Special Assistant to
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense

Diana Denman
Former Reagan Appointee

Steven W. Mosher
President
Population Research Institute

Jen Bawden
Task Force on National and Homeland Security
Committee of the Secure the Grid Coalition

Jerome R. Corsi, Ph.D.
Senior Staff Write, WMD.com
Author, “ATOMIC IRAN: How the Terrorist Regime
Bought the Bomb and American Politicians”

Janet Lehr
Editor and Publisher
IsraelLives.org

Mitchell Counts
Associate Professor of Law
Belmont University College of Law

John Wohlstetter
Senior Fellow
Discovery Institute
London Center for Policy Research

G. William Heiser
Director, Arms Control Policy
National Security Council Staff

Mona Charen
Syndicated Columnist
Senior Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center

Irving W. Ginsberg, Ph.D.
Retired Chief Scientist
Dept. of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory
Former Member of Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST)

Donna Laquintano
Assistant to Richard J. Fox

Stanley J. Horky
Manager and Owner
Program Initiatives, LLC

Scott Franklin
Franklin Consulting Works

Russell J. Ramsland, Jr.
Leader
Park Cities/Preston Hollow Leadership Forum

Michael G. Hoehn, Esq.
Executive Director
Alliance for Vigilance

Sidney Powell
Attorney

Lawrence Kogan
CEO
Institute for Trade, Standards and
Sustainable Development (ITSSD)

Jack Park
Attorney

Judson Phillips
Founder
Tea Party Nation

Ron Robinson
President
Young American’s Foundation

Brigitte Gabriel
Founder & CEO
ACT for America

Sarah Hart
Former Chapter Leader
ACT! for America, Pittsburgh

Debra Burlingame
Co-Founder
9/11 Families for a Safe & Strong America

Kristin Fecteau
Co-Founder
Campaign to Free America

Michael James Barton
Former Middle East Policy Deputy Director
The Pentagon

Melissa Ortiz
Founder and Principal
Able American

William H. Shaker
President
Rule of Law Committee

Ronald D. Rotunda
The Doy & Dee Henley Chair and
Distinguished Professor of Jurisprudence
Chapman University

Gail Madden
Former Mayor Pro Tem
Highland Park, Texas

Roger Simon
President
PJ Media

David Webb
Sirius XM Patriot Talk Show Host

Scott Bradford
Owner
Bradford Rx Solutions, LLC

Joel Pollak
Editor-in-Chief and In-House Counsel
Breitbart.com

George Landrith
President
Frontiers of Freedom

Diana Furchtgott-Roth
Manhattan Institute

Clarice Feldman
Writer and Lawyer
The American Thinker

Janet Parshall
National Syndicated Talk Show Host

Rock Peters
Freelance writer
Knights of Columbus

Carol Tabor
President
Family Security Matters

Abigail Thernstrom
Adjunct Scholar
American Enterprise Institute

John Hinderaker
Powerline

Colin Hanna
President
Let Freedom Ring

Andrew Hyman
Executive Director
The Institute for Intermediate Study (IFIS)

Lucinda Demick
Army & Air Force Exchange Services

Bill Bennett
National Talk Radio Host

Gary Bauer
Christians United for Israel

Chuck Muth
President
Citizen Outreach

Wilma Hall
Former White House National Security Secretary

Stephen Bryen
Former Undersecretary of Defense
For Trade Security Policy

Mary Beth Long
Former Assistant Secretary of Defense

James Roche
Former Secretary of the AF

Jim and Judy Warner
Former POW Vietnam

Lori Lowenthal Marcus
Correspondent
Jewish Week

Richard Falknor
Publisher
Blue Ridge Forum

Susan Falknor
Publisher
Blue Ridge Forum

James Simpson
Freelance Journalist

Sandy Rios
Director of Government Affairs
American Family Association

Carol Greenwald
Former Commissioner of Banking
Massachusetts

Michael Ledeen
Freedom Scholar
Foundation for Defense of Democracies

A. Baron Cass, III
American Citizen

Darlene G. Cass
American Citizen

R.H. Pickens
American Citizen

Steven T. Carter
American Citizen

Russ Miller
American Citizen

Joy Miller
American Citizen

Mr. Steven Stern
American Citizen

Rael and Erich Isaac
Authors

Ned May
American Citizen

Orna Shulman
American Citizen

Matthew Landau
American Citizen

Magaly Jenulis
American Citizen

Pamela J. Jones
American Citizen

Fred A. Reitman, Ph.D., DABT
American Citizen

Judith M. O’Donnell, Ph.D.
American Citizen

Joseph T. Doyle, M.D.
American Citizen

Chris and Tammy Kreif
American Citizens

Sofia Gallo
Princeton University

Theodore Furchtgott
Princeton University

Allison Berger
Princeton University

Noga Zaborowski
Princeton University

Kathleen McCreary
American Citizen

Donna Soloway
American Citizen

Karon Franklin
American Citizen

Elaine Conti
American Citizen

Rita O. Geismar
American Citizen

Anna Haim
American Citizen

Barbara McKinnon
American Citizen

Cynthia Grubb
American Citizen

Dennis Grubb
American Citizen

Dina Lewis
American Citizen