Congressman Barney Frank
Representing Massachusetts' 4th District

Frank Praises Massachusetts Legislature for Passing Iran Sanctions Bill
July 29, 2010

WASHINGTON – Congressman Barney Frank today praised the Massachusetts Legislature for passing legislation that would compel the state’s $44 billion pension fund to divest from foreign oil and gas companies doing more than $20 million in business with Iran.  Frank has been a long-time supporter of placing sanctions on Iran in order to pressure it to halt its nuclear weapons program.

The Massachusetts State Senate passed the bill today on a voice vote; the Massachusetts House passed its version on Tuesday by a wide margin, 130-15.

“I strongly welcome the passage of this bill and I deeply appreciate the Members of the Massachusetts House and Senate whose hard work made this possible,” said Frank.  “Their efforts are a very important part of a coordinated national strategy taking place on both the federal and state levels.  We will continue to do everything we can to deter Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”

In recent weeks, Frank organized his colleagues in the Massachusetts Congressional delegation to write a formal letter to Robert DeLeo, Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, calling on him to give his strongest support to H. 4297 and schedule it for a vote before the full Massachusetts House of Representatives. 

Yesterday, Frank also wrote a letter to Senate President Therese Murphy, encouraging her to bring the Iran sanctions bill to a vote in the State Senate.

In their letter to the Speaker of the Massachusetts House, Frank and his colleagues wrote:

“Given the importance of doing everything possible to deter the regime led by a president who has denied the existence of the Holocaust and called for Israel to be wiped off the face of the earth, who has oppressed his own people, and who has been a bitter and unreasoning critic of all aspects of American policy, we very much hope that our Massachusetts Legislative colleagues will join us in support of effective sanctions legislation that would help deter Iran from building nuclear weapons.”

The letter to Speaker DeLeo – signed by all ten Members of the Massachusetts delegation to the United States House of Representatives – also notes that the new federal law “specifically empowers the states to take [the] sort of action” contemplated in the Massachusetts legislation. 

Click here for additional background on the successful efforts by Congressman Frank and others to pass a federal law to strengthen sanctions against Iran.  President Obama recently praised those efforts, stating that new sanctions “are putting unprecedented pressure on the Iranian government.”

 

RECENT MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE EFFECTS OF IRAN SANCTIONS

Sanctions slow development of huge natural gas field in Iran
By Thomas Erdbrink
The Washington Post
Friday, July 23, 2010

New U.S. Sanctions Isolating Defiant Iran
AIPAC Memo
July 16, 2010

Anything to declare? Sanctions on Iran
The Economist
July 3, 2010