WASHINGTON – At a hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee this morning, Congressman Connie Mack (FL-14), the Ranking Republican of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, questioned two officials from the Obama Administration about the action the Administration is taking to hold Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez accountable for violating the Iran Sanctions Act.

Mack said:

“There’s no question that Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is in violation of the Iran Sanctions Act. So why hasn’t the Obama Administration sanctioned Chavez under this act yet?

“From serious allegations of Chavez shipping gasoline in excess of $1 million to Iran, to the Venezuelan-Iranian International Development Bank’s (Banco Internacional de Desarrollo C.A.) connection to Iranian military entities and nuclear ambitions (as alleged by the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2008), the time to take action is now.

“The clock is running out and we must hold Chavez accountable. If this Administration wants to be serious about upholding the Iran Sanctions Act and preserving freedom, security and prosperity around the world, then they should start with Venezuela and Hugo Chavez’s dangerous ties to Iran. And the first action the Administration can take is to sanction Chavez under the Iran Sanctions Act and designate Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism.”

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