[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 143 (Tuesday, October 6, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




``THE IRAN REFINED PETROLEUM SANCTIONS ACT OF 2009--THE BILL IS RIGHT, 
                        AND THE TIME IS RIGHT''

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 6, 2009

  Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 
2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act of 2009, which my good 
friend and colleague Chairman Berman introduced on April 30, and of 
which I am a co-sponsor.
  Madam Speaker, this bill amends the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to 
impose sanctions on persons who sell to or service, or otherwise 
commercially or financially support, Iran's petroleum industry. The 
bill responds to Iran's lack of refining capabilities--Iran imports 40 
percent of its gasoline and relies on foreign companies to develop its 
energy industry. Limiting Iran's access to refined petroleum could have 
a major effect on the Iranian economy--and on Ahmadinejad's policies.
  Even as President Obama opens diplomatic talks with Iran, we know, 
from all our experience with Iran and so many other dictatorships, that 
a serious effort to peacefully stop Iran's development of nuclear 
weapons will require the strongest political and economic pressure our 
country can muster.
  Madam Speaker, it will not only be worth the effort, but it's 
absolutely necessary that we make this effort. In this regard, I want 
to point out that we have repeatedly seen the correspondence between 
the way a government treats its own people and the way it behaves 
internationally. It seems to be almost a law of international 
relations: massive human rights violators behave deceitfully and 
aggressively, and the more massive the violations, the greater the 
deceit and aggression.
  The law has certainly held in the case of the Ahmadinejad government, 
whose deceit in hiding a previously secret uranium enrichment facility 
was revealed several weeks ago, and whose support of Hezbollah and 
other terrorists and declarations of genocidal intent toward Israel are 
notorious. When we read the State Department's Country Reports on Human 
Rights Practices--I will attach the Iran summary as an addendum--we 
should keep in mind that all these outrages and atrocities Ahmadinejad 
and his cronies commit on their own citizens are more evidence of the 
aggression Ahmadinejad and his cronies are fully prepared and preparing 
to commit on Israel, toward whom they don't even pretend to have 
anything other than the most malevolent intent.
  As former Senators Coats and Robb and General Wald wrote in the 
Washington Post on September 21: ``By ratcheting up pressure on Iran 
before we sit down, Western negotiators would gain both sticks 
(additional measures) and carrots (repealing sanctions) with which to 
induce Iranian cooperation.''
  This is exactly right: the time to move this bill is now, before the 
administration opens its talks with the Ahmadinejad government. This 
House is ready to send a clear signal to the Iranian regime--that, 
though our President is negotiating, this country has not weakened one 
bit its fundamental commitment to defend Israel, that we will not 
tolerate nuclear threats to Israel, and we will not permit the 
Ahmadinejad government to obtain nuclear weapons.
  Madam Speaker, I urge you and Chairman Berman to move this bill, 
which now has over 325 co-sponsors, to the floor for passage by the 
full House as soon as possible. The bill is right, and the time is 
right.

                   2008 Country Reports, Iran Summary

       The government's poor human rights record worsened, and it 
     continued to commit numerous serious abuses. The government 
     severely limited citizens' right to change their government 
     peacefully through free and fair elections. The government 
     executed numerous persons for criminal convictions as 
     juveniles and after unfair trials. Security forces were 
     implicated in custodial deaths and committed other acts of 
     politically motivated violence, including torture. The 
     government administered severe officially sanctioned 
     punishments, including death by stoning, amputation, and 
     flogging. Vigilante groups with ties to the government 
     committed acts of violence. Prison conditions remained poor. 
     Security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained 
     individuals, often holding them incommunicado. Authorities 
     held political prisoners and intensified a crackdown against 
     women's rights reformers, ethnic minority rights activists, 
     student activists, and religious minorities. There was a lack 
     of judicial independence and fair public trials. The 
     government severely restricted civil liberties, including 
     freedoms of speech, expression, assembly, association, 
     movement, and privacy, and it placed severe restrictions on 
     freedom of religion. Official corruption and a lack of 
     government transparency persisted. Violence and legal and 
     societal discrimination against women, ethnic and religious 
     minorities, and homosexuals; trafficking in persons; and 
     incitement to anti-Semitism remained problems. The government 
     severely restricted workers' rights, including freedom of 
     association and the right to organize and bargain 
     collectively, and arrested numerous union organizers. Child 
     labor remained a serious problem. On December 18, for the 
     sixth consecutive year, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) 
     adopted a resolution on Iran expressing ``deep concern at 
     ongoing systematic violations of human rights.''

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