Congress Passes New Iran Sanctions
The U.S. Congress overwhelmingly passed expansive new Iran sanctions.
The sanctions passed June 24 in both houses— 99-0 in the Senate and 408-8 in the House of Representatives—and now go to President Obama for signing.
They expand existing sanctions targeting investment in Iran’s energy sector to encompass trade with the energy escort and business with the banking sector.
“This legislation tells Iran and its trading partners that the United States means business about stopping Iran’s illicit nuclear activities,” Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement. “It greatly strengthens our nation’s overall sanctions regime regarding Iran, increasing the prospects that Iran will finally bear serious costs for its blatant defiance of the international community.”
In her floor speech recommending a vote in favor, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the House Speaker, said “members of Congress, regardless of party, agree: a nuclear Iran is simply unacceptable. It is a threat to the region, to the United States and to our allies across the globe.”
By adding tough new reporting requirements, the enhanced sanctions also considerably restrict the president’s ability to ignore the sanctions; Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama all bypassed the earlier sanctions passage passed in 1996.
Congress resisted a blanket exemption by Obama in the new sanctions bill for countries that have joined the United States in multilateral sanctions through the U.N. Security Council. The lawmakers, however, did grant the president a 12-month waiver, with the stipulation that he explain to Congress the reasons for waiving the sanctions and periodically report whether the sanctions-busters are falling into line.
The new sanctions also incorporate language introduced by Reps. Ron Klein (D-Fla.), Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) targeting businesses that contract to the U.S. government. Such businesses now must certify that they do not do business with Iran. The language drew support following revelations that the U.S. government had done at least $107 billion in recent years with contractors that do business with Iran. The enhanced sanctions also target human rights abusers in Iran.
Jewish groups strongly praised the new sanctions. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbied hard for passage, said it was “the toughest Iran sanctions bill ever to emerge from Congress and provides the best hope that political and economic measures can peacefully persuade Iran to end its illicit nuclear program before it is too late.”
Noting the near unanimity, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations said that “The numbers themselves send a message to Iran about the determination of the U.S. and our elected representatives not to allow Iran to secure a nuclear weapons capacity.”
House Unanimously Calls for Shalit’s Release
The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously called for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit on the eve of the fourth anniversary of his capture by Hamas.
The bill passed June 24, initiated by U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.), demands that “Hamas immediately and unconditionally release Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit” and that the terrorist group allows “prompt access to the Israeli captives by competent medical personnel and representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.”
Gunmen affiliated with Hamas captured Shalit in a cross-border raid on June 25, 2006 after Israel had withdrawn from the territory, and have not allowed him Red Cross access.
“These allegedly religious militants are just thugs,” Ackerman said of Hamas in his floor speech introducing the nonbinding resolution. “Nothing more. They hold up all kinds of banners and they champion all sorts of causes and they claim all kinds of mandates. But their real goal is power, and their true intention is the destruction of Israel.”
A similar resolution is under consideration in the U.S. Senate.
The Jewish Council for Public Affairs, the umbrella body for Jewish public policy groups, lobbied hard for the resolutions.
“It is past time for Hamas to stop playing games with this young man’s life and return him to his family and friends,” the JCPA said in a statement.
Separately, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley also called for Shalit’s release.
“I ask today that Hamas do the right thing – what may be viewed as the difficult and unpopular thing among Palestinians – return Gilad Shalit to his family immediately and unconditionally,” O’Malley, a Democrat, said in a statement last Friday. “I ask that President Obama and his Administration do everything in their power to expedite the return of Shalit to his family.”
ADL Joins Arizona Lawsuit
The Anti-Defamation League joined a lawsuit to overturn Arizona’s restrictive immigration law.
The federal lawsuit, initiated by Friendly House, a Phoenix social services organization, the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups, seeks to overturn a law passed earlier this year that grants police wide latitude to stop individuals and check their immigration status.
“Rather than making Arizona more secure, we believe this law will have the opposite effect,” Miriam Weisman, ADL Arizona’s regional chair, and Bill Straus, ADL Arizona’s regional director, said in a statement Tuesday. “Fear of heightened law enforcement scrutiny about immigration status will deter victims and witnesses from coming forward and cooperating with the police, making it significantly more difficult for police to do their jobs.”
This story reprinted courtesy of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
