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APN Legislative Round-Up for the week ending March 12, 2010

1.  Bills and Resolutions 

2.  House/Senate/AIPAC Gear Up on "Crippling" Iran Sanctions 

3.  New APN Policy document - Needed: A Rational Approach to Iran

4.  Crowley Circulates Dear Colleague in support of Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence Programs


1. Bills and Resolutions 

  

(IRAN) HR 4807: Introduced 3/10/10 by Rep. Kirk (R-IL) and 10 cosponsors, "To amend the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 to require the President to investigate possible violations of that Act within a specified period, and for other purposes."

 

Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

 

NOTE:  The goal of this bill is to compel the President to publicly "name names" of companies and individuals believed to be violating Iran sanctions, even if the President has, for reasons of US national security, used his waiver authority to waive sanctions against them (as has occurred under every President since the ISA became law).

 

As discussed in Section 2 (below), it is generally understood that one of the things the Administration is seeking to change in IRPSA is the requirement that it report the name of every sanctionable company or individual (even if sanctions are waived), since this would contradict the very reasons that the sanctions were being waived (e.g., trying not to publicly embarrass countries that are cooperating with the US in our efforts regarding Iran).

 

If passed into law, this legislation would render any such changes in IRPSA moot.

 

Once again, under the guise of "getting tough on Iran" and "giving the President more tools to deal with Iran," we are seeing legislation that is really about tying the President's hands and limiting his policy options, to the detriment of US national security interests.

 

And from the point of view of partisan politics, once again we are seeing Republican members of Congress trying to force President Obama to take steps that they never tried to force President Bush to take. 

 

2.  House/Senate/AIPAC Gear Up on "Crippling" Iran Sanctions


Despite the fact that the Obama Administration has made clear that it wants to focus on a multilateral approach to Iran, Congress is gearing up to pass legislation that, unless significantly amended, will compel the Administration to take unilateral steps that (among other things) will directly undermine its efforts to muster multilateral consensus and action.

 

The legislation in its current form is clearly opposed by the Obama Administration.

 

APN is the sole voice of the American Jewish community opposing IRPSA and offering specific amendments that would make it acceptable (see: APN message to the House and to the Senate before each passed the bill).  


The first formal sign of this was March 11th, when Conference season on the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act officially opened.

 

On that day the Senate agreed by unanimous consent to amend HR 2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act - by deleting the entire House text and replacing it with the text of S. 2799 - and then pass it.

 

The Senate immediately notified the House that it insisted on its amendment and appointed conferees to represent it in the House-Senate conference to reconcile the two versions of the bill.

 

The Senate conferees are: Dodd (D-CT), Kerry (D-MA), Lieberman (I-CT), Menendez (D-NJ), Shelby (R-AL), Bennett (R-UT), and Lugar (R-IN).

 

House conferees have not been named as of this writing.  


It is expected that the bill will be amended in conference.

 

Anticipated amendments include McCain language imposing sanctions on human rights violators (S. 3022 and HR 4647/4648, covered in this previous edition of the Round-Up).

 

In addition, as noted in Section 1 (above), the Administration is reportedly seeking specific changes, including adding discretionary authority for the President to waive sanctions with respect to countries that are cooperating with the US in our efforts to deal with Iran, removing the mandatory requirement to report all sanctionable companies (the "name names" provision), as well as changing the sanctions threshold (as written, IRPSA would punish very small value transactions in the refined petroleum sector much more harshly than current law punishes much larger value financial sector transactions).    


Finally, on March 9th AIPAC sent a letter to every member of Congress expressing its outrage over a March 6tharticle in the New York Times reporting on US contracts with companies that are defying existing Iran sanctions.

  

The letter calls on Congress to do four things:

  

"1.  Investigate why successive administrations have failed to implement the law by failing to determine what companies have invested in the Iranian energy sector; 2.   Enact -- without delay -- the Iran sanctions legislation currently before Congress, which, inter alia, contains provisions barring federal contracts to companies which are investing in Iran's energy sector or providing sensitive technology, and their parents or subsidiaries who are engaged in such activity;

 

3.  Demand that the U.S. Government enforce existing sanctions law and impose crippling new sanctions on Iran."

 

And "In addition to these actions, we hope you will join with us in urging the administration to impose tough new multilateral sanctions with like-minded states without delay while continuing to pursue the widest possible sanctions through the U.N. Security Council."  


For anyone not following AIPAC's Washington schedule, it should be noted that AIPAC's annual WashingtonPolicy Conference (and lobby days) will be March 21-23.

 

So watch for these "asks" to come up again, bearing in mind that Iran sanctions have in past years consistently been the focal point of lobbying around the AIPAC policy conference.

 

3.  New APN Policy document - Needed: A Rational Approach to Iran

  

For anyone who missed it, on March 8th APN released a new Iran policy document entitled "Needed: A Rational Approach to Iran."

 

The document, which lays out specific recommendations as well as once again explains APN criticisms of IRPSA, is available here.  


4. Crowley Circulates Dear Colleague in support of Israeli-Palestinian Coexistence Programs


On March 11th Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) circulated a Dear Colleague in support of increased funding in the Foreign Operation Appropriations bill for people-to-people reconciliation and co-existence programs in the Middle East.

 

The Dear Colleague seeks cosigners on a letter to ForOps Subcommittee Chairwoman Lowey (D-NY) and Ranking Minority Member Granger (R-TX).

 

The Dear Colleague notes that "At this challenging time facing the Middle East, it is vital that we continue to support non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote peace and cooperation among Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs and Jews in the region.  Through grassroots reconciliation programs, everyday people can come to understand one another and build positive relationships in support of peace and mutual social, political, and economic gains."

  

The letter to Reps. Lowey and Granger is copied below. 


Dear Chairwoman Lowey and Ranking Member Granger: 


We write to thank the Subcommittee for its commitment to peace-building programs and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote people-to-people coexistence and reconciliation around the world, and particularly in the Middle East, where the work of bringing people together in peace is most desperately needed.  In these uncertain times, with the combined hope and challenge of renewed diplomatic negotiations, people-to-people contacts are more critical than ever.  For FY10, the House approved $11 million for USAID-funded people-to-people reconciliation and coexistence programs in the Middle East ($10 million emerged from conference).  We urge you to expand this critical funding for FY 2011.


As we all recognize, solving the Arab-Israeli conflict retains a key role at the heart of U.S. security and foreign policy.  For this reason, Congress appropriated $9 million in funding for Middle East coexistence in FY 2008.  These funds have demonstrated the impact of bringing together ordinary Israeli and Palestinian citizens to work jointly on educational programs, business cooperation, sports activities, recreation centers, healthcare initiatives, community development, and inter-religious dialogue.  This "track two diplomacy" is a critical U.S. foreign policy tool in laying the groundwork for successful diplomatic efforts. 


In order to support this work, we urge the Subcommittee to provide $12 million in funding focused exclusively on people-to-people coexistence and reconciliation in the Arab-Israeli conflict.  The Middle East has a robust network of NGOs working on people-to-people coexistence.  A modest level of support will have substantial, rippling effects. 


We request your help to lay the groundwork for peace in the Middle East and to support the brave and inspiring Israelis and Palestinians who are willing to reach across conflict lines and work toward peace.  Please feel free to have your staff contact Jeremy Woodrum with Rep. Joseph Crowley at jeremy.woodrum@mail.house.gov if we can provide any further information about this request.  Thank you for your consideration. 


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Don't forget to check the APN blog for breaking news and analysis about issues related to Israel, the Middle East, and the Hill. 

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For more information, contact Lara Friedman, APN Director of Policy and Government Relations, at 202/728-1893, or at lfriedman@peacenow.org