House Passes Iran Sanctions Legislation

Posted by Tina

The House of representatives has passed legislation authorizing ten more years of sanctions on Iran that were due to expire at the end of this year. The legislation passed on a vote of 419-1 with the single “no” vote being cast by libertarian Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (KY):

Members argued that without the ISA, there will be no structure in place for sanctions to “snap back” in the event of Iranian violations of the controversial nuclear deal that came into effect last January.

“What if – and I would assert, when – Iran is found to be moving towards a bomb,” House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.), “how will we respond to that?”

“The Obama administration has said that sanctions on Iran would ‘snap back’ were this to happen,” he said. But if the ISA is allowed to expire, “there’s nothing to ‘snap back’ to.”

The bottom line, said Royce, “if we let the clock run out on the Iran Sanctions Act, Congress will take away an important tool to keep Tehran in check, and that in turn will only further jeopardize America’s national security.”

Also voicing support for the legislation were Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and other members of both parties, including minority whip Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

Engel said the reauthorization will “remind Iran’s leaders that we still have a lot of contentious issues to deal with, and signal to the world that after a hard-fought election here at home, American leadership on the global stage won’t falter.”

Enacted in 1996 (as the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act), the legislation imposed sanctions in response to Iran’s terror-sponsorship, ballistic missile development and its nuclear activities. It was reauthorized in 2006 and 2011, and is set to expire at the end of 2016.

It’s a brand new day in America. Good to see our representatives moving quickly. They should know…we will be watching closely.