Back in 2017, President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Change Accord and then the Iran nuclear deal.

Shortly after the Paris decision, a friend from South America called me to express his dissatisfaction.  He basically said something like why is the U.S. pulling out of an international deal?

I responded by saying the Paris accords made no sense for two reasons:

First, the agreement did not have enforcement mechanisms.  I asked him: Would you lease a property if you can't enforce the lease in the courts? 

Second, and more important, I told him the Paris deal was not binding on the U.S. because it was not a treaty.  Then I proceeded to talk about the treaty clause in the Constitution.  As I told him, Obama never really had the authority to commit the U.S. into that agreement.  It was a piece of paper that would have been challenged all the way to the Supreme Court by one or a group of states.

This is why I love what Senator Cruz is proposing to stop a President Biden putting us back in the Paris deal.  He wants President Trump to present both agreements to the Senate for treaty consideration:

On Monday, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) taking heed of Joe Biden's public pronouncements indicating he would rejoin the Paris Agreement and rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, sent a letter to President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that would head Biden off at the pass, asking Trump to submit the deals as treaties, thus forcing any such actions by Biden to be submitted to the Senate for approval.

Senator Cruz's idea makes sense in two ways:

1) He is correct on the Constitution.  We have a treaty clause for a reason.  The Founders did not want presidents running around the world signing deals and involving the nation in potential legal problems for states or companies.

2) It makes sense politically.  Force the Democrats to defend the agreements on the Senate floor.  My guess is that most Democrats want no part of these votes.  They just want the issue but not the up-or-down vote.

We call on President Trump to take Senator Cruz's advice and go the treaty route.  It will be the end of these two bad deals.

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Image: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio