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 Israel—a 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 military—the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps—a 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.
Ron Paul, the conscience of America’s enemies.
Then how come Lesbian Baldwin voted nay
I take back everything conciliatory I said about Ron Paul. I used to think he was a decent congressman, notwithstanding his misinformed views on defense. Now I can’t even say that about him.
Blame America, but don’t denounce Ahmadinejad. I guess he’s got to keep that anti-American hate cash rolling in.
What a scumbag.
Well now, you just answered my question.
I had a thread here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1901938/posts
Where I linked our GOP candidates coming out and denouncing Ahmadinejad.
But I could not find a statement from Paul or Huckabee.
I see why I couldn’t find one from Paul, thanks to your post.
Odd that Lantos and the Dems did this since the Iranian Thug simply parroted DNC talking points.
Ayn Rand, loopy as she was at times, would have considered Paul a loon.
(Ron Paul Votes No)
Bump! Me too!
bump
Did you see Hunter’s response? He has been all over this. Glad to see someone in DC gets it.
"You fascist Chimpy-following neocon warmongers just don't get it. Ron Paul hates Ahmadinejad. Despises him. Prays for his death every night. He has publicly stated this so many times that I shouldn't have to provide any link to substantiate what I say but, if you insist, I can post an unrelated link in which he says nothing of the kind one hundred posts from now. But my point was that Ron Paul - the Supreme Arbiter And Champion Of The United States Constitution - simply cannot find anywhere among Congress' defined powers the authority to condemn a foreign leader. And then there's the Tenth Amendment too, which I'm pretty sure forbids it and which applies to any constitutional discussion anyway, especially when I am losing the argument, which is always. R-LOVE-UTION!!!"
L.Ron Approves of Ahmadinejad Ping
Ping
I saw RasterMaster’s link, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1901940/posts?page=10#10 this morning. Hunter looked extremely serious. I would go as far as say p.o.ed.
With all the talk we do about sarcasm and sarcasm tags and so forth, we had a mad genius of humor right here in out midsts, for there is now way you could have been that serious about Paul all the time...
I fell for it myself, despite my skill at detecting humor....
I salute you Captain Kirk, you have duped us all with your sarcastic wit, until now.
This simple statement was a dead give away...
With all the talk we do about sarcasm and sarcasm tags and so forth, we had a mad genius of humor right here in out midsts, for there is now way you could have been that serious about Paul all the time...
I fell for it myself, despite my skill at detecting humor....
I salute you Captain Kirk, you have duped us all with your sarcastic wit, until now.
This simple statement was a dead give away...
naivete? I call it treason.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1868556/posts
Executive Order: Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq
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Paul
Right on the money. Not surprising.
Disgusting, but not at all surprising.
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