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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: House Passes Tougher Iran Sanctions Measure House Passes Tougher Iran Sanctions Measure By Adam Graham-Silverman, CQ Staff Sept. 25, 2007 – 12:06 p.m. The House Tuesday passed a measure to impose tough new sanctions on Iran, including a ban on all imports and an expansion of curbs on exports to that country. The bill (HR 1400) passed 397-16. It was a surprise addition to the schedule and passed on the same day Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in the United States to address the U.N. General Assembly. The legislation, sponsored by Foreign Affairs Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., is the toughest in a series of measures the House has passed in recent months targeting Iran’s nuclear program and sponsorship of groups on the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. It has 326 cosponsors. Lantos called Ahmedinejad’s appearance “the latest step in his campaign to remove all obstacles to Tehran’s headlong pursuit of nuclear weapons. We, in turn, must resolve to use every available peaceful means — economic, political and diplomatic — to put a stop to that deadly, dangerous pursuit.” The bill would strengthen sanctions President Bush signed into law in 2006 (PL 109-293) that have been waived since their initial enactment in 1996. It would bar all Iranian imports, including carpets, to the United States and would expand sanctions on exports to Iran. It also would remove Bush’s ability to waive sanctions on corporations doing business with Iran’s energy industry. It would expand the definition of those who can be sanctioned for making investments to include financial institutions and insurers to the list of entities already barred from investing in Iran. The measure also would block U.S. nuclear cooperation with countries that assist Iran’s nuclear program and would decrease U.S. contributions to the World Bank by the same amount as the bank’s loans to Iran. It calls on Bush to declare the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group and would grant the president the authority to block the assets of any entity supporting the Revolutionary Guard. It also would authorize $60 billion for the Treasury Department’s Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. The Senate meanwhile was set to vote later on a nonbinding amendment to the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill (HR 1585) that also would call for the Revolutionary Guard to be designated a terrorist organization. The administration has been considering that action, which would allow the United States to freeze its assets and those of businesses that aid them. It would be the first time that the designation has been applied to a branch of a country’s military. The organization whose size is estimated between 125,000 and 180,000, operates as an elite branch of Iran’s army with expertise not only in military affairs but in construction, transportation and business. U.S. military officials have widely alleged that the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force military unit has supplied Shiite militias in Iraq with training and with lethal shaped charges for use against U.S. troops. The Senate resolution, by Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona and Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats, also would declare it U.S. policy to “combat, contain and roll back” Iran and its surrogates in Iraq. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., said in a floor speech the amendment was tantamount to a declaration of war against Iran. But the sponsors told reporters it merely would trigger economic sanctions, and U.S. military actions would be limited to those necessary inside Iraq. And the House bill specifically states that the administration cannot interpret anything in the legislation as a congressional authorization of a military strike on Iran. The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill 37-1 in June. A Senate companion (S 970), sponsored by Gordon H. Smith, R-Ore., has 68 cosponsors. John M. Donnelly contributed to this story.
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#3. To: aristeides (#0)
So who were the sixteen Americans?
---- NAYS 16 --- Abercrombie, Baldwin, Bartlett (MD), Blumenauer, Conyers, Ellison, Flake, Gilchrest, Hinchey, Lee, McDermott, Miller, George, Moore (WI), Olver, Paul, Stark, ---- NOT VOTING 19 --- Berry, Bishop (GA), Carson, Cubin, Davis (IL), Davis, Jo Ann, Delahunt, Herger, Jindal, Johnson (IL), Johnson, E. B., Kucinich, Lampson, Platts, Poe, Ross, Schmidt, Snyder, Tiahrt,
Kucinich's failure to vote could be explained by his being busy campaigning for the presidency, but it's impressive that Ron Paul took the trouble to vote.
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