Englewood—NORPAC hosted a sit-down dinner for Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) at the home of Kevin and Lori Lemmer. First elected to the Senate in 2010, Ayotte has quickly made her reputation as an up-and-coming leader in the party and the Senate. She has been both active and vigilant in her support of U.S.-Israel relations.

At the event, Senator Ayotte discussed the status of current U.S.-Iran negotiations and the Senate Iran Sanctions bill. Ayotte said she was wary of current talks, which seem to favor Iran by easing sanctions and only delaying certain aspects of their nuclear program in turn. This all comes at a time when the Senate Banking Committee is working on getting out their version of the Iran Sanctions bill, which passed with bipartisan support earlier this year in the House of Representatives. French President Francois Hollande recently flew to Israel on an official visit and stated that France would not ease up on sanctions until it was assured that Tehran would completely cease its nuclear ambitions.

Senator Ayotte, along with Senators Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mark Kirk (R-IL), released the following statement in response to a New York Times report that the Obama Administration is considering easing sanctions on Iran by releasing frozen overseas assets held by the Iranian regime: “Now is a time to strengthen—not weaken—U.S. and international sanctions. The U.S. should not suspend new sanctions, nor consider releasing limited frozen assets, before Tehran suspends its nuclear enrichment activities. Iran must fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, meet its responsibilities under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and implement all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions in a transparent and verifiable manner. Nothing short of that will be acceptable to the United States Congress and the American people.”