Dear Mr. President,

As Members of Congress—and as Americans—we are united in our unequivocal commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East would threaten the security of the United States and our allies in the region, particularly Israel.

The ongoing implementation of the Joint Plan of Action agreed to by Iran and the “P5+1” nations last November increases the possibility of a comprehensive and verifiable international agreement. We understand that there is no assurance of success and that, if talks break down or Iran reneges on pledges it made in the interim agreement, Congress may be compelled to act as it has in the past by enacting additional sanctions legislation. At present, however, we believe that Congress must give diplomacy a chance. A bill or resolution that risks fracturing our international coalition or, worse yet, undermining our credibility in future negotiations and jeopardizing hard-won progress toward a verifiable final agreement, must be avoided.

We remain wary of the Iranian regime. But we believe that robust diplomacy remains our best possible strategic option, and we commend you and your designees for the developments in Geneva. Should negotiations fail or falter, nothing precludes a change in strategy. But we must not imperil the possibility of a diplomatic success before we even have a chance to pursue it.

Sincerely,

1. Karen Bass (D-CA)

2. Joyce Beatty (D-OH)

3. Sanford Bishop (D-GA)

4. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)

5. Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam)

6. Corrine Brown (D-FL)

7. G.K. Butterfield (D-NC)

8. Lois Capps (D-CA)

9. Mike Capuano (D-MA)

10. Andre Carson (D-IN)

11. Matt Cartwright (D-PA)

12. Donna Christian-Christensen (D-Virgin Islands)

13. Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY)

14. William Lacy Clay (D-MO)

15. Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO)

16. Jim Clyburn (D-SC)

17. Steve Cohen (D-TN)

18. Gerry Connolly (D-VA)

19. John Conyers (D-MI)

20. Jim Cooper (D-TN)

21. Joe Courtney (D-CT)

22. Elijah Cummings (D-MD)

23. Danny Davis (D-IL)

24. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)

25. Diana DeGette (D-CO)

26. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)

27. John Dingell (D-MI)

28. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX)

29. John Duncan, Jr. (R-TN)

30. Donna Edwards (D-MD)

31. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

32. William Enyart (D-IL)

33. Anna Eshoo (D-CA)

34. Sam Farr (D-CA)

35. Bill Foster (D-IL)

36. Marcia Fudge (D-OH)

37. John Garamendi (D-CA)

38. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ)

39. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL)

40. Richard Hanna (R-NY)

41. Rush D. Holt (D-NJ)

42. Jared Huffman (D-CA)

43. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX)

44. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

45. Hank Johnson (D-GA)

46. Walter B. Jones (R-NC)

47. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH)

48. Bill Keating (D-MA)

49. Robin Kelly (D-IL)

50. Dan Kildee (D-MI)

51. Ann McLane Kuster (D-NH)

52. John Larson (D-CT)

53. Barbara Lee (D-CA)

54. John Lewis (D-GA)

55. Dave Loebsack (D-IA)

56. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

57. Stephen Lynch (D-MA)

58. Jim Matheson (D-UT)

59. Thomas Massie (R-KY)

60. Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY)

61. Betty McCollum (D-MN)

62. Jim McDermott (D-WA)

63. Jim McGovern (D-MA)

64. Jerry McNerney (D-CA)

65. Gregory Meeks (D-NY)

66. George Miller (D-CA)

67. Gwen Moore (D-WI)

68. Jim Moran (D-VA)

69. Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-CA)

70. Rick Nolan (D-MN)

71. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

72. Beto O'Rourke (D-TX)

73. Ed Pastor (D-AZ)

74. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-NJ)

75. Pedro Pierluisi (D-PR)

76. Chellie Pingree (D-ME)

77. Mark Pocan (D-WI)

78. Jared Polis (D-CO)

79. David Price (D-NC)

80. Nick Rahall (D-WV)

81. Charles B. Rangel (D-NY)

82. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)

83. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD)

84. Bobby Rush (D-IL)

85. Tim Ryan (D-OH)

86. Gregorio Sablan (D-Northern Mariana Islands)

87. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)

88. Bobby Scott (D-VA)

89. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH)

90. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)

91. Jackie Speier (D-CA)

92. Mark Takano (D-CA)

93. Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

94. Mike Thompson (D-CA)

95. John Tierney (D-MA)

96. Paul Tonko (D-NY)

97. Niki Tsongas (D-MA)

98. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

99. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)

100. Pete Visclosky (D-IN)

101. Tim Walz (D-MN)

102. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

103. Peter Welch (D-VT)

104. John Yarmuth (D-KY)