Congressman Heck criticizes House passage of H.R. 5711, a bill to prohibit U.S. aircraft manufacturers from selling commercial airplanes to Iran

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following the vote on H.R. 5711, a bill that if signed into law would undermine the Iran Nuclear Agreement by prohibiting U.S. sales of commercial jets to the Islamic Republic of Iran, Congressman Denny Heck (WA-10) issued a statement expressing his concern about this proposal going forward:

“President Obama will veto this bill, but after January 20, President-elect Trump could unravel all the work we’ve done to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Part of the Iran Deal (or JCPOA) was allowing Iran to purchase U.S.-made commercial airplanes if they are meeting the benchmarks of the agreement. If we walk away from this commitment, we are creating an unsafe and unstable situation not only in the Middle East but the entire world,” Congressman Heck said.

“I don’t know how people sleep at night knowing this would place American manufacturing at a disadvantage, thereby allowing foreign competitors to take away these jobs, but also because we are telling Iran that the nuclear deal is off. When I ask the supporters of H.R. 5711 what their plan is to protect our nation after unraveling all the peaceful and productive progress we’ve made, all I hear are crickets. This is very troubling and completely irresponsible.”

On July 14, 2015, representatives from the United States, Iran, France, the U.K., Germany, China, Russia, and the European Union agreed on the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to roll back Iran’s nuclear program. Since the agreement was signed, Iran has implemented its nuclear-related commitments as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). As part of the agreement (Annex II – Sanctions-related commitments, p. 12-13), the U.S. agreed to “allow for the sale of commercial passenger aircraft and related parts and services to Iran by licensing the (i) export, re-export, sale, lease or transfer to Iran of commercial passenger aircraft for exclusively civil aviation end-use, (ii) export, re-export, sale, lease or transfer to Iran of spare parts and components for commercial passenger aircraft, and (iii) provision of associated serviced, including warranty, maintenance, and repair services and safety-related inspections, for all the foregoing, provided that licensed items and services are used exclusively for commercial passenger aviation.”

In September 2016, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued specific licenses permitting the export of up to 17 Airbus and 80 Boeing aircraft.

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