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.
“Without looking further, I’ll take a stab and say Ron Paul voted against....”
You can look further. The article doesn’t mention Paul.
‘You can look further. The article doesn’t mention Paul.’
ROTFL! I did ‘look further’ and guess what I found?
Ron Paul doing EXACTLY as I thought, in the House bill along the same lines.
Thanks for playing....
you are welcome. glad I could make your day. easily amused are we?
Ever notice how you never see Ron Paul and Lyndon LaRouche photographed together?
“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.”
LOL.
Thanks I needed that.
Don’t mean much in my book because Congress is inept as long as Nancy Peloser is in charge.
I watched Tora Tora Tora tonight and it seems that current politicians have not learned their lessons.
Ron Paul, the incontinence of the House.
Related:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1904790/posts
Did A’jad predict Armageddon at the UN?
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