[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 117 (Friday, July 20, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 COSPONSORSHIP OF H.R. 1400, THE IRAN COUNTER-PROLIFERATION ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. EDWARD J. MARKEY

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 19, 2007

  Mr. MARKEY. Madam Speaker, I am proud to cosponsor H.R. 1400, the 
Iran Counter-Proliferation Act of 2007. This bill will give the United 
States far superior economic and political leverage against Iran's 
ongoing and dangerous nuclear program by significantly strengthening 
our sanctions package against Tehran.
  The necessity for the United States and the world to negotiate a 
final termination to Iran's nuclear program cannot be overstated. The 
signals that Iran's nuclear program may not be peaceful are legion: 
Iran is in violation of its International Atomic Energy Agency 
safeguards agreement, it has yet to explain decades of deception 
surrounding their nuclear research and construction programs, it is 
pursuing a uranium enrichment program which could eventually produce 
weapons-grade uranium, and it is building a heavy-water nuclear reactor 
which will produce plutonium which could be used for weapons.
  An Iranian nuclear weapon could threaten the United States, the 
security of the Persian Gulf, and it would certainly threaten one of 
our greatest allies, Israel. Iran's position in the region has 
unfortunately been greatly strengthened by our misadventure in Iraq, 
and the regime in Tehran may believe that with a nuclear bomb they 
could become the regional hegemon, the local strong-man. Such an 
outcome would be disastrous for the stability of the region, and would 
be deeply threatening to the United States and our allies. We must do 
everything we can to avoid this scenario. The Iran Counter-
Proliferation Act will put stronger arrows in the diplomatic quiver of 
the United States through its expanded sanctions package, and it 
hopefully will help us find a resolution to this important issue.
  Iran's development of a nuclear weapon would also be a deeply 
damaging blow to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and could signal 
the death-knell for international efforts to halt the spread of the 
bomb. An Iranian nuclear weapon would so dramatically alter the balance 
of power in the Middle East and Central Asia that other nearby 
countries could decide that they must pursue a weapons program as well 
to protect themselves from the sway of Iranian regional hegemony. In 
such a scenario, an Iranian bomb could spur the development of a Saudi 
bomb, an Egyptian bomb, or a Turkish bomb. If the cascading security 
implications for the region from an Iranian nuclear weapon did lead to 
neighboring countries also pursuing nuclear programs, the NPT may truly 
be shattered beyond repair.
  While I support H.R. 1400 and am proud to cosponsor it, I am 
concerned that one provision of the bill may have the unintended 
consequence of undermining our international efforts to unify all 
governments around the world against Iran's dangerous and destabilizing 
nuclear program. This bill would remove the President's ability to 
waive sanctions against foreign countries and corporations if the 
sanctions could harm the national security interests of the United 
States. I share the view of the bill's authors that such Presidential 
waiver authority has been utilized far too frequently--in fact, 
the international sanctions contained in the Iran Sanctions Act have 
never been utilized because they have been waived every year! However, 
I am concerned that by removing the waiver altogether, we will go too 
far in the other direction.

  A number of American allies would be targeted by a universal 
application of the sanctions contained in H.R. 1400, and while it may 
be desirable in many cases to do so, leveraging such costly sanctions 
against our international partners could in certain circumstances make 
it more difficult to convince these countries to support our efforts to 
obtain further multilateral sanctions against Iran. No country and no 
corporation should get a free pass to conduct business in Iran, but at 
the same time we must retain the flexibility necessary to assure 
success at the multilateral level. For this reason, I intend to work 
with my colleagues to make sure that a tightly-crafted waiver authority 
is included in the final legislation--not to encourage its use, but to 
ensure that the United States retains the flexibility that we must have 
to be successful.
  It is also very important that H.R. 1400 includes a provision 
clarifying that nothing in the act authorizes the use of force or the 
use of the United States Armed Forces against Iran. I believe that our 
best strategy for success against the Iranian nuclear program will be a 
strong combination of economic sanctions, political engagement, and 
multilateral pressure with a clear and persuasive package of benefits 
to Iran in exchange for the renunciation of their nuclear program. A 
successful strategy does not involve the use of force, and in fact the 
use of force against Tehran would most likely backfire by solidifying 
the domestic political support for the hard-line regime which is 
continually loosing the support of its people.
  I believe that we can solve the Iranian nuclear issue with smart 
diplomacy, forceful engagement, unilateral and multilateral sanctions, 
and a sophisticated understanding what combination of sticks and 
carrots will be persuasive to the decision-makers in Tehran. While it 
is my opinion that most of the Bush Administration's efforts in this 
regard have been heavy-handed, ideologically rigid, uncreative, and 
ultimately counter-productive, I believe that some of their recent 
actions point to the slow adoption of a more sophisticated approach 
towards this extremely important problem. The Iran CounterProliferation 
Act will help strengthen this approach, and will help us ratchet up the 
pressure on Iran. It is yet to be seen whether the Bush Administration 
will be wise enough to couple this bigger stick with a bigger carrot, 
and I hope that they do so. Far too much hangs in the balance, and the 
United States strategy must be smart, adaptive, and tough.
  I urge adoption of the bill.

                          ____________________