[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 193 (Thursday, December 15, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2269-E2270]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IRAN THREAT REDUCTION ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 13, 2011

  Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, Iran's quest for nuclear weapons puts the 
entire globe at risk.
  Iran has proven itself to be less than truthful in its discussions 
about its nuclear weapons program. It hid its nuclear enrichment 
facility in Qom from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It 
told the world it was enriching uranium for non-military purposes, but 
the enrichment site at Qom and elsewhere appear to have no civilian 
application.
  And while sanctions have had some impact, Iran has persisted in its 
efforts to obtain nuclear weapons. Iran has also succeeded in evading 
the impact of existing sanctions by creating one front company after 
another to shield its activities.

[[Page E2270]]

  What's particularly troubling, is that at the same time as it is 
building its nuclear program, Iran has continued to threaten its 
neighbors. It has armed and funded Hezbollah and Hamas, which are 
dedicated to eradicating the state of Israel. In 2005, Iran's President 
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that Israel should be wiped off the face of 
the map. In 2008, he said: ``The people of the region would not miss 
the narrowest opportunity to annihilate this false regime.''
  But Israel is not Iran's only target. In November a senior commander 
of Iran's Revolutionary Guard threatened to bomb NATO bases in Turkey. 
Iran is currently threatening to close the straits of Hormuz, which 
will affect shipping, with particular impact on the crude oil exported 
from Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq and 
liquid natural gas from Qatar.
  Given Iran's success in developing a nuclear program, a number of its 
neighbors have suggested that they may follow suit, creating further 
instability in the region. Earlier this month, Turki al-Faisal, who has 
served as the Saudi intelligence chief and as ambassador to the United 
States, suggested that Saudi Arabia may seek nuclear weapons. Wikileaks 
revealed that Egypt's leaders told U.S. officials that Egypt would 
acquire nuclear weapons if Iran did. This lends greater urgency to the 
need to persuade Iran to end its nuclear ambitions.
  Nuclear weapons are particularly threatening when held by a nation 
whose leaders have no apparent respect for human life. Iran has an 
unrivaled record of human rights abuses, from the imprisonment of 
people of the Ba'hai faith, to the use of the death penalty against 
minors, to the use of torture and amputation against prisoners, to 
discrimination against women, to the suppression and murder of members 
of the democracy movement. With thousands of its citizens murdered, 
tortured or imprisoned, Iran's record of human rights abuses is among 
the worst in the world.
  History shows that when dictators threaten their neighbors, there's 
good reason to fear. And given Iran's history of threats, its dedicated 
progress in enriching uranium, its evident determination to hide its 
nuclear program from the world and its abysmal human rights record, the 
world should do everything possible to hinder it from obtaining nuclear 
weapons.
  That's why I strongly support H.R. 1905, the Iran Threat Reduction 
Act, which would implement a commonsense enhancement of existing 
sanctions--by providing greater options to sanction entities doing 
business with the Central Bank of Iran; by expanding the types 
petroleum-related activities that could trigger sanctions to include 
certain petroleum resource agreements with Iran, purchasing Iranian 
debt and supporting port facility construction and management; by 
imposing sanctions on individuals involved in human rights abuses or 
terrorism; by imposing sanctions on those who do business with Iran's 
Revolutionary Guard; by allowing states or other organizations to 
divest from Iran; by identifying those entities that are helping Iran 
evade sanctions, among other things.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in voting in support of H.R. 1905.

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