WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today issued the following statement on the role of Congress amid American-led negotiations to constrain Iran’s nuclear program:

“In exchange for allowing Iran to maintain the capabilities to build nuclear weapons, the Administration promises to “comprehensively lift” as many as 14 Iran sanctions laws, many of which passed with bipartisan veto-proof majorities. There is no Constitutional authority granting a president unilateral power to repeal American law. Sanctions should not be weakened until Iran stops its nuclear weapons program, stops supporting and exporting terrorism, stops aggression against its neighbors, stops egregious human rights abuses, and stops threatening to annihilate Israel. A better deal, with bipartisan congressional backing, is the best insurance policy against a nuclear Iran, a destructive arms race, and war in the Middle East.”