[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 362 Introduced in House (IH)]
110th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 362
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to
international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital
national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
May 22, 2008
Mr. Ackerman (for himself and Mr. Pence) submitted the following
concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign
Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of Congress regarding the threat posed to
international peace, stability in the Middle East, and the vital
national security interests of the United States by Iran's pursuit of
nuclear weapons and regional hegemony, and for other purposes.
Whereas Iran is a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT), has foresworn the acquisition of nuclear weapons by
ratification of the NPT, and is legally bound to declare and place all
its nuclear activity under constant monitoring by the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA);
Whereas for nearly 20 years, in clear contravention of its explicit obligations
under the NPT, Iran operated a covert nuclear program until it was
revealed by an Iranian opposition group in 2002;
Whereas the IAEA has confirmed such illicit covert nuclear activities as the
importation of uranium hexafluoride, construction of a uranium
enrichment facility, experimentation with plutonium, importation of
centrifuge technology, construction of centrifuges, and importation of
designs to convert highly enriched uranium gas into metal and shape it
into the core of a nuclear weapon;
Whereas Iran continues to expand the number of centrifuges at its enrichment
facility, as made evident by its announced intention to begin
installation of 6,000 advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium, in
defiance of binding United Nations Security Council resolutions
demanding Iran suspend enrichment activities;
Whereas the November 2007 National Intelligence Estimate reported that Iran was
secretly working on the design and manufacture of a nuclear warhead
until at least 2003, but that Iran could have enough highly enriched
uranium for a nuclear weapon as soon as late 2009;
Whereas an Iranian nuclear weapons capability would pose a grave threat to
international peace and security by fundamentally altering and
destabilizing the strategic balance in the Middle East, and severely
undermining the global nonproliferation regime;
Whereas Iran's overt sponsorship of several terrorist groups, including Hamas
and Hezbollah, and its close ties to Syria raise the possibility that
Iran would share its nuclear materials and technology with others;
Whereas Iran continues to develop ballistic missile technology and is pursuing
the capability to field intercontinental ballistic missiles, a delivery
system suited almost exclusively to nuclear weapons payloads;
Whereas Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel, a
major non-North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally, and a member of the
United Nations;
Whereas the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and
Germany have offered, and continue to offer, to negotiate a significant
package of economic, diplomatic, and security incentives if Iran
complies with the United Nations Security Council's resolutions
demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment;
Whereas Iran has consistently refused such offers;
Whereas as a result of Iran's failure to comply with the mandates of the United
Nations Security Council, taken under Chapter VII of the United Nations'
Charter, the international community has imposed limited sanctions over
the past 2 years that have begun to have an impact on the Iranian
economy;
Whereas Iran's rapid development of its nuclear capabilities is outpacing the
slow ratcheting up of economic and diplomatic sanctions;
Whereas Iran has used its banking system, including the Central Bank of Iran, to
support its proliferation efforts and its assistance to terrorist
groups, leading the Department of Treasury to designate 4 large Iranian
banks proliferators and supporters of terrorism;
Whereas Iran's support for Hezbollah has enabled that group to wage war against
the Government and people of Lebanon, leading to its political
domination of that country;
Whereas Iran's support for Hamas has enabled it to illegally seize control of
Gaza from the Palestinian Authority, and to continuously bombard Israeli
civilians with rockets and mortars;
Whereas Iran continues to provide training, weapons, and financial assistance to
Shi'a militants inside of Iraq and antigovernment warlords in
Afghanistan;
Whereas those Shi'a militant groups and Afghan warlords use Iranian training,
weapons, and financing to attack American and allied forces trying to
support the legitimate Governments of Iraq and Afghanistan;
Whereas Iran is further destabilizing the Middle East by underwriting a massive
rearmament campaign by Syria;
Whereas through these efforts, Iran seeks to establish regional hegemony,
threatens longstanding friends and allies of the United States in the
Middle East, and endangers vital American national security interests;
and
Whereas nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization of the
use of force against Iran: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),
That Congress--
(1) declares that preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear
weapons capability, through all appropriate economic,
political, and diplomatic means, is vital to the national
security interests of the United States and must be dealt with
urgently;
(2) urges the President, in the strongest of terms, to
immediately use his existing authority to impose sanctions on--
(A) the Central Bank of Iran and any other Iranian
bank engaged in proliferation activities or the support
of terrorist groups;
(B) international banks which continue to conduct
financial transactions with proscribed Iranian banks;
(C) energy companies that have invested $20,000,000
or more in the Iranian petroleum or natural gas sector
in any given year since the enactment of the Iran
Sanctions Act of 1996; and
(D) all companies which continue to do business
with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps;
(3) demands that the President initiate an international
effort to immediately and dramatically increase the economic,
political, and diplomatic pressure on Iran to verifiably
suspend its nuclear enrichment activities by, inter alia,
prohibiting the export to Iran of all refined petroleum
products; imposing stringent inspection requirements on all
persons, vehicles, ships, planes, trains, and cargo entering or
departing Iran; and prohibiting the international movement of
all Iranian officials not involved in negotiating the
suspension of Iran's nuclear program; and
(4) urges the President to lead a sustained, serious, and
forceful effort at regional diplomacy to support the legitimate
governments in the region against Iranian efforts to
destabilize them, to reassure our friends and allies that the
United States supports them in their resistance to Iranian
efforts at hegemony, and to make clear to the Government of
Iran that the United States will protect America's vital
national security interests in the Middle East.
<all>