Titus votes yes on Iran deal; Republicans vote no

WASHINGTON — Silent until the last minute, Rep. Dina Titus on Friday morning voted in favor of the nuclear agreement the Obama administration negotiated with Iran.

Nevada Republican Reps. Cresent Hardy, Joe Heck and Mark Amodei voted against the deal, as they had previously said they would.

But Titus, the sole Democrat in the state's House delegation, did not announce her vote beforehand, saying she wrestled with it until the end.

"Today's vote on the Iran deal is the most difficult I have cast since being in Congress," she said in a statement afterward. "I struggled between going with my heart and listening to my head.

"My heart told me this was not a good deal," she said. "We gave away too much, too soon, to a country too tied to terrorism.

"But my head tells me this deal is done," and cannot be stopped or changed, she said. The outcome appeared cemented on Thursday when Democrats supportive of President Barack Obama blocked a GOP bid to reject the agreement.

"For that reason we must look ahead and work together in the new reality instead of, as my grandmother used to say, crying over spilt milk," Titus said.

Voting against the deal, Heck, who is running for Senate, said Obama was asking too much for the United States to trust Iran, "a regime that is the largest exporter of terrorism in the world, has already violated the interim nuclear agreement, and whose Supreme leader just stated that Israel will not exist in 25 years."

The House rejected the nuclear agreement, 162-269. All Republicans voted against it, and they were joined by 25 Democrats.

Despite the House vote, the deal appears likely to stand. On Thursday, Democrats blocked a move in the Senate to reject the agreement. The vote on a procedural motion was 58-42, with 60 votes needed.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., voted to uphold the agreement. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., voted to reject it.

Contact Review-Journal Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault@reviewjournal.com or 202-783-1760. Find him on Twitter: @STetreaultDC