JIM ABRAMS
Associated Press
September 26, 2008
 |
|
|
|
|
Asserting the need to force Iran’s hand on its nuclear weapons program and its support of international terrorism, the House on Friday moved to reinforce sanctions against the Tehran government.
The House legislation, approved on a voice vote, would also authorize state and local governments to divest the assets of their pension funds and investments in companies that have invested more than $20 million in Iran’s oil industry.
The measure takes aspects of several measures passed overwhelmingly in the House last year but which did not advance in the Senate and met opposition from the administration. The chances of the Senate taking up the issue in the last few hours of this session are uncertain.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., said more meaningful sanctions were needed if Iran would not change its behavior as a result of incentives offered by the West. Past sanctions, he said, “have squeezed Iran’s economy somewhat but clearly not enough to slow down its nuclear program.”
The top Republican on the committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, said she supported the bill but said it didn’t go far enough. “This weak legislation will send a message to our enemies of a weakened U.S. position on the issue of Iran.”
|
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!
