The resolution passed the 100-member Senate on a 90-1 roll call vote. The only nay vote came from Sen. Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, who complained that the resolution supports “the concept of pre-emptive war.”
However, the very last sentence of the resolution stated, “Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war,” terminology that was necessary to get liberal members to vote for the resolution.
The legislation has no legal force. It is just a resolution, not an act of Congress, and thus only expresses the “sense of Congress,” not anything binding on the government.
The resolution did not go beyond endorsing policies already endorsed by President Obama and therefore broke no new ground.
The meaty parts of the resolution stated that Congress:
“Expresses support for the universal rights and democratic aspirations of the people of Iran;
“Strongly supports United States policy to prevent the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability;…
“Joins the President in ruling out any policy that would rely on containment as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat.”
“Containment” is a policy advocated by many who do not believe that a nuclear-armed Iran would attack anyone, but just try to use nuclear weapons for political leverage. Under “containment,” the United States would seek to box in Iran and prevent it from exercising political power while tolerating its possession of nuclear weapons. Obama last year rejected containment as a US policy option.
The resolution was one of 204 items passed Saturday on the last day Congress was in session before recessing for the election campaign.
The resolution endorsed economic and political sanctions on Iran and said it hoped diplomatic negotiations would resolve the dispute.