The full text of the letter is below:

August 31, 2015
Dear Members of Congress,

We believe that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that the United States and our P5+1 partners negotiated with the government of Iran is the most viable means to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and protect the security of the United States, Israel and other allies. We are writing to you as former Members of Congress to urge your support of this historic agreement.

The Joint Plan of Action is a verifiable and enforceable agreement that closes Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon while providing unprecedented international inspections of all aspects of Iran’s nuclear program. Should Iran break the agreement, it increases the time that it would take for Iran to enrich enough fissile material for one nuclear weapon, otherwise known as breakout time, from two months to more than a year. Under the agreement, sanctions relief for Iran is tied to verifiable benchmarks and is capable of being snapped back in the event of an Iranian violation of its terms.

We know of no viable alternatives to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that is now before you. We agree that no deal is better than a bad deal. But we also agree that a good deal is better than no deal.

Congress has played an important role in making this agreement possible through bi-partisan support of sanctioning and isolating the government of Iran. We urge you and your colleagues to take the next steps by supporting this agreement and then exercising your oversight role through the robust monitoring and evaluation of its implementation.

As former Members of Congress, we appreciate the gravity of your decision and the considerable pressure that you are under as you weigh the merits of this agreement and the costs of failure to implement it. Supporting the agreement does not come without risks. But these risks must be considered in the context of the grave risks that would be incurred if you were to reject it. These include the unraveling of international sanctions, the suspension of international inspections and an Iranian government that is unconstrained in developing its nuclear program. They also include the increased likelihood of a military confrontation.

We believe that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran is in our national security interests and we urge your support.

Sincerely,

Senator James Abourezk (D-SD)

Representative Michael Andrews (D-TX)

Representative Thomas Andrews (D-ME)

Representative Michael Barnes (D-MD)

Representative Berkley Bedell (D-IA)

Representative Anthony Beilenson (D-CA)

Senator Jesse “Jeff” Bingaman, Jr. (D-NM)

Representative James Blanchard (D-MI)

Representative David Bonior (D-MI)

Representative Don Bonker (D-WA)

Representative John Burton (D-CA)

Representative M. Robert Carr (D-MI)

Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND)

Senator Thomas Daschle (D-SD)

Representative Ronald Dellums (D-CA)

Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND)

Representative Thomas Downey (D-NY)

Representative David Evans (D-IN)

Representative Victor Fazio (D-CA)

Representative Paul Findley (R-IL)

Representative James Florio (D-NJ)

Representative Barnett “Barney” Frank (D-MA)

Representative Donald Fraser (D-MN)

Representative Elizabeth Furse (D-OR)

Representative Samuel Gejdenson (D-CT)

Representative Richard Gephardt (D-MO)

Representative Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD)

Representative Daniel Hamburg (D-CA)

Representative Lee Hamilton (D-IN)

Senator Thomas Harkin (D-IA)

Representative Jane Harman (D-CA)

Senator Fred Harris (D-OK)

Senator Gary Hart (D-CO)

Representative Rush Holt (D-NJ)

Representative Elizabeth Holtzman (D-NY)

Representative William Hughes (D-NJ)

Senator J. Bennett Johnston (D-LA)

Representative Michael Kopetski (D-OR)

Representative Chester Atkins (D-MA)

Representative Walter “Les” AuCoin (D-OR)

Representative Alvin Baldus (D-WI)

Representative Larry LaRocco (D-ID)

Senator Carl Levin (D-MI)

Representative Mel Levine (D-CA)

Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN)

Representative Stan Lundine (D-NY)

Representative Paul “Pete” McCloskey, Jr. (D-CA)

Representative Mike McCormack (D-WA)

Representative Martin “Marty” Meehan (D-MA)

Representative George Miller (D-CA)

Representative Walter Minnick (D-ID)

Senator George Mitchell (D-ME)

Representative Anthony “Toby” Moffett (D-CT)

Representative James Moody (D-WI)

Representative James Moran (D-VA)

Representative Dave Obey (D-WI)

Representative Richard Ottinger (D-NY)

Representative Jerry Patterson (D-CA)

Representative Earl Pomeroy (D-ND)

Representative Timothy Roemer (D-IN)

Representative Philip Ruppe (R-MI)

Senator James Sasser (D-TN)

Representative Patricia Schroeder (D-CO)

Representative David Skaggs (D-CO)

Representative James Slattery (D-KS)

Representative John Spratt (D-SC)

Representative Richard Stallings (D-ID)

Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-CA)

Representative John Tierney (D-MA)

Senator Joseph Tydings (D-MD)

Senator Mark Udall (D-CO)

Representative Robert Wexler (D-FL)

Representative John “Pat” Williams (D-MT)

Senator Timothy Wirth (D-CO)

Representative Robert Wise (D-WV)

The full text of the letter is below:

August 27, 2015

Dear Members of Congress,

As organizations representing millions of Americans, we urge Congress to support the nuclear agreement recently reached between the United States, our partners in the so-called P5+1, and Iran. Congress is now in the midst of a 60 day review period for the deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and is expected to vote on the deal in the coming weeks. We strongly urge you to support this deal.

This historic agreement is a victory for national security, for the American people, and people around the world. This agreement blocks any potential pathway for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon. It accomplishes this not through trust or hope, but through ironclad, verifiable mechanisms, including an unprecedented inspections regime. And importantly, it resolves this pressing national security concern without resorting to military force and another devastating war in the Middle East.

This agreement was carefully negotiated by not just the United States and Iran, but also by the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and China. Rejecting a deal agreed to by these leading global powers – and now endorsed by the entire United Nations Security Council – would be a disastrous act of self-sabotage by Congress. It is unthinkable that Congress would decide to eliminate the constraints and verification measures established for Iran’s nuclear program and unravel the multilateral efforts led by the U.S. to resolve the nuclear dispute. Further, rejecting the deal would put the United States and Iran back on the path to war, threatening to further destabilize the entire Middle East.

We strongly support the commendable leadership of the President and his administration, and many members of the House and Senate who have worked to support these negotiations and make this deal possible. We strongly urge all Members of Congress to now fully support this deal and reject any congressional effort to undermine its implementation.

Sincerely,

Adorers of the Blood of Christ

Adrian Dominican Sisters

American Friends Service Committee

American Values Network

Americans for Peace Now

Arab American Institute

Brave New Films

Campaign for America’s Future

CASA

Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good

Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Center for International Policy

Citizens for Global Solutions

Church World Service

CODEPINK

Conference of Major Superiors of Men

Congregation of Notre Dame USA Peace and Justice Office

Council for a Livable World

CREDO

Daily Kos

Demand Progress

Democrats.com

Franciscan Sisters of the Poor JPIC

Friends Committee on National Legislation

Global Exchange

Global Zero

Historians Against the War

Institute for Policy Studies, New Internationalism Project

Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center

J Street

Jewish Voice for Peace

Just Foreign Policy

Justice and Peace Committee of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

Justice Team – Sisters of Mercy of the Americas

Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Office

Leadership Conference of Women Religious

Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Medical Mission Sisters

Mennonite Central Committee U.S.

MoveOn.org

NIAC Action

National Council of Churches

National Organization for Women

National Security Network

NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby

The Network of Spiritual Progressives

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation

Pax Christi International

Pax Christi USA

Peace Action

Peace Action West

People Demanding Action

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Progressive Democrats of America

Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA)

The Shalom Center

Sinsinawa Dominicans

Sisters of Charity, BVM

Sisters of the Holy Cross – Congregation Justice Committee

Sisters, Home Visitors of Mary

Society of Helpers – US Province

Sojourners

U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)

Unitarian Universalist Association

United for Peace and Justice

United Methodist Church, General Board of Church and Society

United States Student Association

USAction

Veterans For Peace

VoteVets.org

Win Without War

Women’s Action for New Directions

In a Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on the Iran Deal, Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) put forward a rather strange line of questioning directed at Energy Secretary Earnest Moniz:

Johnson: Are you familiar with the EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse) commission’s 2008 report?

Moniz: No I’m not sir…

Johnson: Are you aware of the fact that Iran has practiced ship-launched EMP attacks using scud missiles?

Moniz: No I am not sir…

Johnson: An EMP attack of course would be conducted by somebody like North Korea or Iran and it could be conducted from a ship off our coast using a scud missile, and the fact that you as the Secretary of the Department of Energy are not even aware of the 15 recommendations (from the 2008 report)… I’m highly concerned.

Johnson’s questions had very little to do with the nuclear deal itself, and had everything to do with ratcheting up a culture of fear in this country that represents the Republicans’ best chance of killing the nuclear deal. The fringe of the Republican Party for decades has exaggerated the “threat” of an EMP attack in order to justify increased spending on missile defense programs that are notoriously ineffective, and now, it’s using this “threat” to add to the country’s fear of the nuclear deal.

After preliminary negotiations between the US and Iran began in the Summer of 2013, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) told a fired-up crowd “If nothing changes in Iran, come September, October, I will present a resolution that will authorize the use of military force to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb.” Last week however, after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Hearing on the Iran deal, Graham was singing a different tune: “We all want a diplomatic resolution to the Iranian nuclear ambitions… It’s not a choice between a bad deal and a war… The idea that you have to take this deal or have a war comes from a weak-minded President and a Secretary of State who wants a deal way too badly.” I guess we all just misunderstood Graham’s call for war in 2013 as a call for the diplomatic resolution we all want.

Some critics have taken their arguments a step further – portraying opposing the deal as a way to stop a war position. Jennifer Rubin, conservative columnist for the Washington Post, published a piece the day after the deal was announced titled, “Voting ‘no’ is the way to prevent war,” in which she argued that approving of the nuclear deal with Iran would increase the chances of war. “Preventing war begins with preserving sanctions, blocking Iran’s access to conventional weapons and missiles and reworking a deal before Iran gets a bomb.” Strange then that peace groups across the country have banded together to stop Congress from killing a deal that supposedly increases the chance of war.

Clearly, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. But while hawks are arguing over the best way to attack the deal we can all rely on Republican presidential hopefuls to make their position seem even more ludicrous:

“(President Obama) will take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.” –Mike Huckabee

“If this deal is consummated, it will make the Obama administration the world’s leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism.” –Ted Cruz

“We don’t have our best and our brightest negotiating for us. We have a bunch of losers. We have a bunch of political hacks.” –Donald Trump

“It’s very possible – God forbid, but it’s very possible – that the next president could be called to take aggressive actions, including military action (against Iran), on the first day in office.” –Scott Walker

“I have no doubt that Iran will use a nuclear weapon in any way possible to destroy the United States, to destroy Europe, to destroy Israel or any other country that is in their way. They don’t care about dying.” –Rick Santorum