ACTION ALERT: Pass Iran Sanctions Now!

Tuesday, February 23, 2010     By: RJC Congressional Affairs Office

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TO: RJC Members
FROM: RJC Legislative Affairs Committee
SUBJECT: What's the hold-up, Congress? Pass Iran Sanctions Now!

• It's been almost a year since Secretary Clinton warned Iran's rulers that they would face "crippling sanctions" if they failed to end their pursuit of nuclear weapons. 
• It's been almost three months since the House of Representatives passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), a measure targeting Iran's energy sector with strong new sanctions by a 412-12 vote.
• It's been almost a month since the Senate unanimously passed major legislation to apply sanctions - legislation incorporating provisions of IRPSA and other sanctions legislation.

By now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid ought to have taken the next step - appointing the members of the House-Senate conference committee that can reconcile the two bills into a final version that would be passed by both chambers and sent to the President.

But they haven't.

• Prime Minister Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - a man who has vowed to wipe Israel off the map - just declared Iran a nuclear power.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency just released a new report that shreds Iran's cover story that their nuclear activities are peaceful.
• And Israel's Prime Minister has warned repeatedly that crippling sanctions like those contained in the bipartisan House and Senate bills are urgently needed to deter Iran's nuclear pursuit.  

So what are Pelosi and Reid waiting for?

Well... Foreign Policy magazine reports that congressional leaders are sitting on the legislation - waiting for the administration to negotiate a deal at the UN. 
In other words, our elected leaders in Congress are sitting still while centrifuges spin on in Iran - bringing Iran's fanatical rulers ever closer to their goal of deploying nuclear weapons that would set off a regional nuclear arms race and put Israel's survival at risk.

If Congress moves ahead quickly on sanctions, that might well improve the U.S. negotiating position in the UN Security Council.  Countries resisting sanctions, notably China and Russia, could become more reasonable.

But instead, it looks as if those countries will be doing what they've always done - working overtime to water down any sanctions measure.

The real problem seems to be that the administration has abandoned its pledge to push for crippling sanctions if a year of diplomatic overtures failed to bear fruit.  Now, they talk about "targeted" sanctions that Iran experts tell us are less likely to have a positive effect.

Congress needs to tell the administration that after a year of little action, enough is enough.

That means our representatives need to hear from us.

Take Action: Urge your Representatives to support sanctions now- before it's too late!

• Please take a moment to call or email your Congressman and two U.S. Senators and ask that they contact Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid to demand that final Iran sanctions legislation be completed and sent to the President as soon as possible.
• Information about how to contact your Congressman can be found at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml (you will be directed to a site where you can identify who your Representative is and send him or her an email) -- or by calling 202-224-3121.
• Information about how to contact your U.S. Senators can be found at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm -- or by calling 202-224-3121.

Key points to mention:

• America's credibility is at stake.  By rejecting extremely generous "confidence building" measures proposed by the U.S. and allied nations, Iran's ruling mullahs are consciously attacking our international reputation.
• The pending legislation is a carefully crafted approach to the problem - not a blunt instrument.  The legislation precisely targets a narrow area of vulnerability - as opposed to clamping down indiscriminately with measures that would mostly harm ordinary Iranians.
• Sanctions are the best hope of addressing the Iranian threat without a military confrontation.  By all accounts, Israel cannot tolerate nuclear weapons in the hands of a regime whose leader has threatened to "wipe it off the map."

Thanks for weighing in on this urgent and timely matter.  The stakes for the stability of the Middle East and our national security could not be higher.