News that Senator Schumer has signed up as a co-sponsor the bill to require the Iran deal to be submitted to Congress sent us to the text of the measure. In the fight to hold Iran’s feet to the fire, after all, the senior senator from New York — and the leading contender for to lead the Democrats in the upper chamber after the retirement of Harry Reid — has been taking something of a powder. So when he signs up to a bill being proposed by Senator Corker, the Republican who chairs Foreign Relations, an inspection is invited.

Alas, it looks to us like the measure Mr. Schumer co-sponsors is weak beer. We agree with the principle that supposedly animates its sponsors (there are 21 of them, including 12 Republicans), which is to give Congress a chance to review whatever deal President Obama and Secretary Kerry make with the Mullahs. The bill does not, however, require Congressional approval of the deal by Congress. Nor even ratification by the Senate, which is what would be required in respect of a treaty.

When one gets into the fine print, it’s clear that what the bill does is lift from the president any burden to convince the Congress of the merits of the Iran appeasement. Instead it places on the Congress the burden of summoning the votes to stop it. Given the rules of the Senate, it means that 60 solons would have to vote to disapprove of the Iran deal. Otherwise, the President would have, after 60 days, a free hand making things easy for the mullahs. The bill turns the whole idea of ratification upside down.

Here’s how the bill works. The bill establishes that for 60 days after the Iran deal is sent to the Congress, the president can waive, suspend, reduce or otherwise relieve sanctions on Iran only if Congress approves the measure. If the Congress does nothing, the president can do whatever he wants after 60 days. It’s only if Congress votes actually to disapprove of the pact that the president’s hands are tied and sanctions remain in effect. This means that cloture would be required to stop the Iran deal.

It would be far better to make Congress a full partner in this deal — meaning that the president would negotiate it and submit it to the Congress for approval. A failure of the Congress to approve would mean the deal would not go into effect. That would place a burden on Messrs. Obama and Kerry to make their case to the American people. The way it is now, the Corker-Schumer bill requires the American people to make a case against the pact — or else. Or else what?

Well, it looks like the American people would then be subject to the kind of derision to which the President is currently treating Israel. What a deal, eh? It would be President Obama, the French, the Chinese communists, President Putin’s Russia, Britain, and Germany — plus the Iranians — against Israel and the American people. Where is Mr. Schumer going to be in that contest? Where is Senator Corker going to be? From the start of this escapade, the Sun has taken the position that the appeasement is in the parley itself, and this is what we had in mind.