rssObama Putting Brakes on Senate Iran Sanctions Bill
Wednesday, December 16, 2009 at 11:30 am
- 9 Comments
Now that Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif.) bill authorizing new energy-sector sanctions on Iran has passed the House, the Obama administration is looking to the Senate to cool things down. The Obama administration “didn’t tell me to go ahead, but they also didn’t tell me not to go ahead,” Berman told reporters yesterday. But the Senate is a different story. Josh Rogin reports:
Those discussions are based on a letter from Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg to Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, D-MA. In the letter, State asked Kerry to delay the Senate bill until next year so that the administration would have more time to prep for the “pressure track” and also to secure some changes to the legislation.
Kerry has sounded cautious notes on Iran sanctions for awhile. On the day that Iran’s hidden Qom enrichment facility was revealed, Kerry’s Foreign Relations Committee released a statement urging calm and deliberation before going the sanctions route: “We need to ensure that our unilateral efforts do not undermine the prospect for achieving tougher multilateral sanctions that will be most effective in bringing pressure to bear on Iran.” Members of the administration have told me the same thing, but they’ve never come out and opposed any of the congressional sanctions bills.
But Rogin reports that other senators — Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) — want the administration to clarify its concerns:
The bill as it stands gives the president the right to waive sanctions against third-party countries that are cooperating with U.S. efforts to confront Iran’s nuclear program. The administration wants those countries to be exempted from the start and then have sanctions applied only when necessary.
“The administration has not made a compelling argument as to why the waiver isn’t sufficient for them to avoid doing diplomatic harm to allies, in the case where companies within their jurisdictions are doing things that may become sanctionable,” the aide said. “That’s what the waiver is there for.”
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9 Comments
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[...] Now that Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif.) bill authorizing new energy-sector sanctions on Iran has passed the House, the Obama administration is looking to the Senate to cool things down. …Read Original Story: Obama Putting Brakes on Senate Iran Sanctions Bill – The Washington Indep… [...]
Pingback posted December 16, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
[...] Now that Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif.) bill authorizing new energy-sector sanctions on Iran has passed the House, the Obama administration is looking to the Senate to cool things down. …Read Original Story: Obama Putting Brakes on Senate Iran Sanctions Bill – The Washington Indep… [...]
Pingback posted December 16, 2009 @ 10:10 pm
[...] Now that Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif.) bill authorizing new energy-sector sanctions on Iran has passed the House, the Obama administration is looking to the Senate to cool things down. …Read Original Story: Obama Putting Brakes on Senate Iran Sanctions Bill – The Washington Indep… [...]
Pingback posted December 17, 2009 @ 12:09 am
[...] Now that Rep. Howard Berman’s (D-Calif.) bill authorizing new energy-sector sanctions on Iran has passed the House, the Obama administration is looking to the Senate to cool things down. …Read Original Story: Obama Putting Brakes on Senate Iran Sanctions Bill – The Washington Indep… [...]
Comment posted December 20, 2009 @ 12:15 am
Why is anyone surprised that Obama is not taking action against Iran? In 2007, Senator Barack Obama opposed a bipartisan resolution that designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization! By identifying a group as terrorists, they become susceptible to sanction.
People may best remember the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from their recent TV appearances beating innocent Iranians in the streets for protesting the elections.
In fact, Senator Obama — who had a history of missing votes to avoid unpleasant decisions or simply voting present — took a stand on the floor and harshly attacked his political opponents for voting to so designate the Guards as a terror group.
The evidence was overwhelming — the Guard has been implicated in terror attacks against Americans in Iran, Argentinean Jews in bombing attacks in Buenos Aires, and has bolstered Hezbollah in Lebanon. Designating this group as terrorists is crucial in weakening its power. Barack Obama opposed this resolution.
In 2007, the Kyl-Lieberman resolution, co-sponsored by John McCain, passed in the US Senate with an overwhelming vote of 76 – 22.
The writing was always on the wall.
Comment posted December 20, 2009 @ 5:15 am
Why is anyone surprised that Obama is not taking action against Iran? In 2007, Senator Barack Obama opposed a bipartisan resolution that designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization! By identifying a group as terrorists, they become susceptible to sanction.
People may best remember the Iranian Revolutionary Guard from their recent TV appearances beating innocent Iranians in the streets for protesting the elections.
In fact, Senator Obama — who had a history of missing votes to avoid unpleasant decisions or simply voting present — took a stand on the floor and harshly attacked his political opponents for voting to so designate the Guards as a terror group.
The evidence was overwhelming — the Guard has been implicated in terror attacks against Americans in Iran, Argentinean Jews in bombing attacks in Buenos Aires, and has bolstered Hezbollah in Lebanon. Designating this group as terrorists is crucial in weakening its power. Barack Obama opposed this resolution.
In 2007, the Kyl-Lieberman resolution, co-sponsored by John McCain, passed in the US Senate with an overwhelming vote of 76 – 22.
The writing was always on the wall.
Pingback posted February 5, 2010 @ 8:15 pm
[...] egregiously flawed sanctions measure can command the near-unanimous support of the House. There are reports that the administration has asked Kerry to delay the bill in the Senate until next year, so there [...]
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