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.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia *ON NOW*-ronpaulforums
And the hard left as well
Scathing opening before Ahmedinejad's speech-DU
Iranian leader 'petty, cruel dictator,' school president says-DU
Of course.. Ron Paul voted against it.. why am I not surprised.
What a disgrace he is.
I really can’t STAND him. He’s living in a world that does not exist- and tosses out dangerous propositions that ignorant people grab onto as being “principled”
BS. The FIRST DUTY and OBLIGATION of the government is to protect and defend the citizenry.
Paul is a fool.
Ron Paul is the oooonnnnnllllyyyyyy candidate who has ever been within a mile of a copy of the Constitution. Even the folks who wrote it didn’t understand it as well as Ron Paul. He channelled it to them from the future.
Ping
Emphasis bump!
LOL! Excellent imitation of the moonbats!
Some religions call this achieving enlightenment.
Funny how we can profile a group’s actions in Congress and vote them out of office based on their actions BUT - we can’t seem to profile middle eastern Muslim males between 18-35 and act on the group’s actions through our Justice Department or intelligence agencies.
The good news is we can vote these people out and use such simple but powerful analytics to vote in politicians whom will change our intelligence agencies and Justice Department. Also, give me the canditates that consistently voted against illegal invasion from day one. Won’t that be a much safer country? Wow, I must be a genius or something. (sarc off)
RON PAUL IS THE ONLY MAN WHO UNDERSTANDS!
THE WRATH OF THE PAULINATI WILL BE UPON EACH OF YOU!
THIS THREAD SHALL RECIEVE THE CURSE OF 1000 POSTS FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!
THE "HIGH COUNCIL" OF THE PAULINATI DEMAND IT!
Once we get through a few more bowls of this really killer weed "Spirit Herb"...
That, by the way, was perfect.
DUDE!
Like we can convene with the founders after just like one or two bowls of “Spirit Herb”....
Like got and twinkies?
Got the ravin’ munchies...
This guy will loft this bill for eternity, to prove what a die hard good citizen he is. He has espoused the same goals as aWhackJob and Laden for years, then floats this ringer.
What a bastard!
Fred will be on Hannity in a couple of minutes talking about I’m-a-nutjob. Sorry for the short warning...I’ve been out most of the day.
Dude, like that’s like beautiful and sh*t...
Self appointed.
But what matter, no one's opinion counts other than his own.
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