[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2367-E2368]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            IRAN MISSILE PROLIFERATION SANCTIONS ACT OF 1997

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                               speech of

                            HON. JANE HARMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 12, 1997

  Ms. HARMAN. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that last evening H.R. 2709, 
the Iran Missile Proliferation Sanctions Act of 1997 introduced by my 
colleagues Mr. Gilman and Mr. Berman, passed on the consent calendar. 
This legislation addresses a severely destabilizing development in the 
Middle East region: the acquisition by Iran of long-range missile 
capabilities--capabilities that threaten U.S. forces in the region, 
Israel, our NATO ally Turkey, and territory as distant as Central 
Europe.
  H.R. 2709 takes a step beyond the concurrent resolution which passed 
last week in both bodies. That resolution urged the Administration to 
impose sanctions on Russian entities proliferating to Iran. As its 
author in this body, I believe that measure sent an immediate signal 
that continued cooperation between Russian entities and Iran in 
ballistic missile technology would not be tolerated.
  This legislation does more. It adds a requirement that the President 
submit periodic reports to Congress identifying the entities providing 
Iran with missile technology. In so doing, the bill establishes a 
incontrovertible basis for imposing sanctions.
  H.R. 2709 also allows the President to waive sanctions if there is 
subsequent evidence that an identified case of trade with Iran did not 
assist Iran's missile program. And, the legislation grants the 
President authority to waive sanctions if he determines that doing so 
is essential to U.S. national security.
  Thus, this legislation is the logical next step to the resolution 
adopted by both houses of

[[Page E2368]]

Congress last week. Where the first measure urged the Administration to 
consider sanctions, this bill specifies parameters for doing so.
  Mr. Speaker, credible estimates indicate that Iran may be only one 
year away from fielding a missile of 800 mile range, the so-called 
Shahab-3, and less than three years away from a missile of 1,240 miles 
range, the Shahab-4. Even more troubling, these missiles could be armed 
with chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons--capable of wreaking mass 
destruction on wide areas.
  If we thought Iraqi SCUD missiles posed a danger during the Persian 
Gulf war of 1991, we must show even greater concern regarding this new 
threat from Iran. We must use all the tools at our disposal to prevent 
it--and sanctions are one such tool. I comment my colleagues for 
authoring this legislation.

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