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Cotton Fires Back at White House: Subsidizing Iran's Nuclear Program Isn't a 'Laughing Matter'

April 28, 2016

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) fired back at the White House's "sparkling water" slam against him Thursday on Morning Joe, saying he didn't find the subsidizing of Iran's nuclear program to be a "laughing matter."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest took exception to Cotton's proposed amendment that would prevent the U.S. from using taxpayer dollars to purchase Iranian heavy water.

"Sen. Cotton is certainty no expert when it comes to heavy water. I’m confident that he couldn’t differentiate heavy water from sparkling water," Earnest said at Wednesday's briefing.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked Cotton to respond to that criticism.

"This guy at the White House may think it's a laughing matter to subsidize Iran's nuclear program, but I don't," Cotton said. "I think it's a very serious matter. Heavy water is not radioactive. It's not dangerous in normal qualities, but it is an essential part of any kind of nuclear program like Iran's.

"Iran is required to reduce its heavy water stocks under the nuclear deal that President Obama signed with them last year. However, we are not obligated to take that heavy water. We certainly are not obligated to provide U.S. taxpayer dollars to Iran's nuclear program for that heavy water, so I offered a simple amendment on the Department of Energy's budget that said that the U.S. taxpayer next year would not subsidize any more kind of deals like this."

Unfortunately, Cotton said, Democrats had blocked it from going forward because of its 60-vote threshold. He guessed they didn't want to go on record as thwarting Obama on Iran.

Cotton has been a staunch opponent of the Iran nuclear deal throughout its negotiation and implementation. Last year, Earnest took another shot at Cotton as an "international man of mystery" for his allegations of secret "side deals" within the Iran nuclear agreement.