Stringent Iran Sanctions Resolution Stalls in Committee
September 29, 2008
Despite attracting the support of a large majority of lawmakers, a nonbinding House resolution demanding that the President “immediately and dramatically” increase economic and diplomatic pressure on Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment activities is not expected to pass before the end of the current Congress. The concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 362), which is co-sponsored by 280 legislators, has received public criticism alleging that the measure calls for what amounts to a blockade of Iran, the implementation of which could lead to war with the United States.
Berman Wants Concerns Addressed
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) told The Washington Times that he will prevent H. Con. Res. 362 from reaching the floor until his concerns with the resolution are addressed. The Committee’s spokeswoman, Lynne Weil, told The Washington Times that any Congressional statement of policy on Iran “should encompass a strategy on how to gain consensus on multilateral sanctions to change Iran's behavior.”
Ackerman Declares Intention to Reintroduce H. Con. Res. 362
The House is soon expected to adjourn, meaning that, unless Congress returns after the November elections for a lame duck session, the resolution will need to be re-introduced in the next Congress, which will convene early next year. A less-controversial Senate companion resolution (S. Res. 580) is also expected to die in committee with the end of the current Congress. However, referring to H. Con. Res. 362, the resolution’s lead sponsor, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), told The Washington Times, “We’ll resubmit it when Congress comes back, and we’ll have even more signatures.” According to Ackerman, the resolution promotes “a way to avoid war by using diplomatic, political and economic tools.”
Resolution Calls for Tough Economic, Travel Sanctions
Among other provisions, H. Con. Res. 362 declares that preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability is vital to US national security interests and “must be dealt with urgently” through all appropriate economic and political means. The resolution calls for a ban on exports to Iran of all refined petroleum products, the imposition of strict inspection requirements “on all persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or departing Iran,” and a travel ban on all Iranian officials not involved in international nuclear negotiations.
The resolution also urges the President, “in the strongest of terms,” to impose unilateral sanctions on certain Iranian banks as well as international banks and companies doing business with sanctioned Iranian banks, Iran’s oil and natural gas industries, or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
For additional information on H. Con. Res. 362, see Washington Report, July 9, 2008.
|
|