IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2012; Congressional Record Vol. 158, No. 118

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IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2012

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speech of

HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

of oregon

in the house of representatives

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, Today, a time of heightened tensions in

U.S.-Iran relations, I voted for the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria

Human Rights Act of 2012, \[H.R. 1905\](https://www.congress.gov/bill/112th-congress/house-bill/1905), a balanced and serious approach

towards ensuring Iran will never have nuclear weapons.

Throughout my time in Congress, I have firmly opposed the use of

indiscriminate sanctions as a blunt tool of foreign policy, one often

more successful as political fodder than as leverage to effect positive

change.

The timing of previous Iran sanctions legislation was damaging,

undermining the administration in the midst of complex, delicate

discussions with Iran. Today, the circumstances have changed.

Negotiations are stalled, and this legislation has been focused and

toned-down, making it an asset, not a liability, for the administration

as it works to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran.

A coherent and unified U.S. policy towards Iran is the best way to

strengthen diplomacy, which remains the best, some say the only, way to

prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. This revised legislation--

based on input from a broad coalition, including the White House--

brings coherence and focused pressure to the negotiating table.

I commend Chairwoman Ros Lehtinen and Ranking Member Berman of the

House Foreign Affairs Committee for producing a bill that is based on

policy, not politics. There were extreme voices pushing to include some

very harsh language that, for example, would have made the few

currently permitted humanitarian transactions with Iranian financial

institutions illegal. To the benefit of the U.S. and innocent Iranian

civilians, these provisions were left out.

Another critical change to this legislation is language that

clarifies in the Act is not an authorization of the use of force

against Iran or Syria.

The resolution would provide the administration with additional

leverage for their broader diplomatic effort. Sanctions are effective

when it is clear that if concessions are made, the other side has the

ability to reciprocate by easing elements of the sanctions regime. This

bill provides the administration with such flexibility.

In the midst of negotiations yet to yield progress, focused sanctions

that unite both Congress and the executive provides leverage that

increases the likelihood of success, and an alternative to military

action, which our nation can ill-afford and which I oppose.

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