Press Release

For Immediate Release
June 24, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx), one of a select group of 24 members of Congress tasked with drafting a unified Iran Sanctions measure, will speak on the House floor tonight in support of the Conference Report on Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act (H.R. 2194). Below are Congressman Crowley’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

“Madame Speaker, I was proud to be a member of the House-Senate conference committee that negotiated the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act, and I will strongly support passage of this agreement. 

“This tough set of sanctions makes it clear to the government of Iran that the United States will not stand idly by while Iran destabilizes the Middle East, threatens its neighbors and undermines international nonproliferation efforts. 

“Under this measure, any company or country doing business with Iran will undergo serious scrutiny and could be subject to tough penalties.  This sanctions measure will also ensure that we expose those that have committed serious human rights abuses against Iranians who are struggling for democracy and freedom.

“Right now, Iran is being led by Ahmadinejad. His authority is not only illegitimate because of how Iran’s last election was conducted, but because of his blatant disregard for the international community.  He has vowed to press ahead with uranium enrichment, and boasted that the new sanctions are nothing but “worthless paper”.  He stands in clear and stark defiance of the UN Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency and indeed the entire world’s nuclear nonproliferation efforts.  For the sake of peace and stability, we must act now.

“We are going to show Ahmadinejad that the UN sanctions, and these we are about to pass today, are not “worthless paper”.  He is about to be proven very, very wrong.  The days of the United States turning a blind eye to companies propping up Iran’s regime are now officially over.

“As long as Ahmadinejad and his cronies remain bent on obtaining nuclear weapons and crushing the Iranian people, this Congress and this Administration are going to take every possible step to thwart his efforts.  I am proud to have served on the Conference Committee for this legislation and strongly support its final passage.”

Crowley is a six-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and served as one of 24 members of Congress on the House-Senate conference committee on the Iran Sanctions measure.

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