Posted on 09/25/2007 11:12:13 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
WASHINGTON (AP) - Congress signaled its disapproval of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a vote Tuesday to tighten sanctions against his government and a call to designate his army a terrorist group.
The swift rebuke was a rare display of bipartisan cooperation in a Congress bitterly divided on the Iraq war. It reflected lawmakers' long-standing nervousness about Tehran's intentions in the region, particularly toward Israela sentiment fueled by the pro-Israeli lobby whose influence reaches across party lines in Congress.
"Iran faces a choice between a very big carrot and a very sharp stick," said Rep. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "It is my hope that they will take the carrot. But today, we are putting the stick in place."
The House passed, by a 397-16 vote, a proposal by Lantos, D-Calif., aimed at blocking foreign investment in Iran, in particular its lucrative energy sector. The bill would specifically bar the president from waiving U.S. sanctions.
Current law imposes sanctions against any foreign company that invests $20 million or more in Iran's energy industry, although the U.S. has waived or ignored sanction laws in exchange for European support on nonproliferation issues.
In the Senate, Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., proposed a nonbinding resolution urging the State Department to label Iran's militarythe Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corpsa terrorist organization.
The Bush administration had already been planning to blacklist a unit within the Revolutionary Guard, subjecting part of the vast military operation to financial sanctions.
The legislative push came a day after Ahmadinejad defended Holocaust revisionists, questioned who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and declared homosexuals didn't exist in Iran in a tense question-and- answer session at Columbia University.
The Iranian president planned to speak Tuesday at the U.N. General Assembly.
Lantos' bill was expected to draw criticism from U.S. allies in Europe. During a visit to Washington last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told lawmakers that France opposes any U.S. legislation that would target European countries operating in Iran. He argued that such sanctions could undermine cooperation on dealing with Iran.
Lee and Stark the U.S. hating commies of the SF bay area, who would have thunk.
Boy! Two zots and I missed them. Sheesh!
Uhhh, I'm a Fred supporter. The dem idiot from california saw the writing on the wall, how this turned into a Ron Paul bashing thread I have no idea. I think it's amazing so many have turned against Paul, yet now support the POS dems because they saw the writing on the wall.....yesterday.....
Heh.....idiot
Ellison is the Muslim, right? Go figure.
Every one of them should be expelled from office.
I just viewed the first one awhile ago. The second I saw yesterday, but it was a day old and I didn’t spend much time on it.
Mercy! Zots & more zots. Kool!
Uh, would you like to clarify that? I was never on that thread until now so how does missing them make me an idiot?
Hmmmmmmmm?
Actually, I had in mind a portion of the anatomy...far more accurate, actually.
I’m waiting for your reply. You jumped into a post not addressed to you and called me an idiot. I want to know why, and what logic (actually lack thereof) prompted that.
You don’t know why I said what I did. You don’t know me. Yet you call me an idiot?
Explain yourself if you can.
Apologies. I came on here and was called a Ron Paul supporter because I questioned the democratic controlled house's priorities......didn't realize I had walked into a Ron Paul bash fest...
Your apology is accepted, but your explanation doesn’t make any sense.
My post to which you replied was way down-thread; far enough to get a feel for the thread, IMHO.
But, as I say, apology accepted.
Maybe.
I type slowly.....;)
All depends how.
What does that make you?
One thing to add, is Ron Paul a decedent of Neville Chamberlain? ;-D
Ron Paul = Hillary on the War; Rudy Giuliani = Hillary on abortion, etc
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1901223/posts
I think the Paulbearers have finally decided to stop poisoning the well. Who could show their face around here defending L.Ron after this?
It’s a relief and a small victory, if true.
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