Ron Kampeas reported earlier this month on signs that the anti-Iranian sanctions legislation backed by the pro-Israel lobby might be "taking the slow train" in the Senate.
Unilateral U.S. sanctions against Iran are on track, Senate officials say, but taking the slow train.
Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, needs time to consider the bill, his spokesman, Frederick Jones, told JTA. Jones strongly refuted rumors that Kerry would keep the legislation from reaching the floor, although that is in his power as a committee chairman.
"We’re working with the administration to reach a solution that achieves the minimum all parties" want, Jones said. "There’s no hold, it’s not dead, it’s just they’re anticipating the legislative process."
Well, things appear to be picking up. Here’s AIPAC’s statement:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced today he is "committed" to bringing critical Iran sanctions legislation for a vote after the Senate returns in January.
Signaling the importance of the Iran sanctions bill, Reid made the striking announcement on the Senate floor minutes after the chamber’s passage of the health care bill.
"This important piece of legislation…would impose new sanctions on Iran’s refined petroleum sector and tighten existing US sanctions in an effort to create new pressure on the Iranian regime and help stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," Reid said in a colloquy with Sens. Dodd and Kerry. "I want everyone to know that I am committed to getting this legislation to the floor sometime after we return in January."
The Senate bill (S.2799) is cosponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd and Ranking Member Richard Shelby. It includes the Senate version of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (S.908) introduced by Sens. Bayh, Lieberman and Kyl, cosponsored by 76 Senators and passed by the House 412-12, as well as the Iran Sanctions Enabling Act (S.1065), overwhelmingly passed by the House in October by a vote of 414 to 6. The Dodd-Shelby bill also contains important provisions clamping down on sanctions-busting activity known as transshipment.
Chairman Dodd, the bill’s sponsor, thanked the majority leader for his effort in trying to move this legislation forward, saying the goal "is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability " and that "it is now clearer than ever that tougher sanctions must be a key element of our comprehensive Iran strategy going forward."
"This comprehensive sanctions legislation would arm the Administration with critical tools to apply additional pressure on the Iranian regime and disrupt its proliferation and terrorist activities at a pivotal time — a time when Iran’s leaders continue to flaunt the will of the international community, trample on the rights of its own people, and threaten the national interests of the U.S. and our strongest allies, including Israel," Dodd said.
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, also speaking on the floor, urged that the legislation "be considered as soon as possible when we get back."
This is a matter of great urgency, and AIPAC strongly applauds Senator Reid’s commitment and that of the bill’s 76 cosponsors to passing this critical legislation without delay.
Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapons capability would be a devastating blow to America’s national security interests. The United States and our allies must do everything we can to use crippling diplomatic and economic pressure to peaceably prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and avoid confronting more distressing alternatives.
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