Palmer slams Iran deal at Vestavia Hills town hall

U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer, R-Hoover, strongly criticized the pending nuclear deal with Iran during a town hall meeting Monday night at Vestavia Hills City Hall. The agreement was the most asked about topic during the meeting along with frustration over Republican congressional leaders.

"We have to explain this to the American public. This is not a good deal," Palmer said before taking questions from the roughly 25 attendees in Vestavia Hills. The freshman congressman said the deal, which is expected to sustain a congressional veto, gives Iran access to $150 billion in frozen assets, allows Tehran to buy surface-to-air missiles from Russia and continue to fund terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

"I think it gives them a pathway to the bomb," Palmer said of the agreement, adding that he was told it could set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, with Saudia Arabia, Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates also seeking nuclear weapons should Iran develop one.

He added that the agreement between Iran, the U.S. and four other nations is different than the deal between the U.S. and North Korea because of the element of Islamic terrorism.

"If Iran gets the bomb, it's not [just] Iran," Palmer said. "It's going to be a set of Shia that has millions of adherents."

Some residents voiced their disagreements over the deal, with one referencing rumors that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif's son attended the wedding of the daughter of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (the rumor was dismissed by the State Department and Kerry's daughter.)

"Did they have 'Death to the Great Satan' on the wedding cake?" Palmer quipped, adding that he thought the agreement was more about "Kerry's ineptitude than he's got an Iranian son-in-law."

Two residents brought up their anger over Republican leaders in Congress not being aggressive enough to undo President Barack Obama's agenda. "They got a lot of tools in their bag that they're not using," one said.

Palmer, who voted for U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., for speaker of the House, shared that frustration, but said it is the upper chamber that is more at fault.

"It's basically the establishment. I'm most frustrated with the Senate," the congressman said, adding that the Senate doesn't act on legislation unless Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is assured that a bill has at least 60 votes to avoid a Democratic filibuster.

Palmer cited a recent example of the tension between the House and Senate, when McConnell added a reauthorization of the Export-Impact Bank – an issue unpopular with conservative House Republicans – to a one-year highway funding bill. In response, the House sent back a three-month highway bill.

"That's the kind of knucklehead stuff that we keep doing that drives us nuts," the congressman said.

Asked by a resident what can be done, Palmer said the upcoming presidential election might lead to a change in leadership or its thinking should the GOP take the White House.

"I've already done what I can do. I voted against Boehner both times," he said. "I think the bigger problem is McConnell. We're passing bills and sending them over."