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APN to House: Vote No Tomorrow on IRPSA

This morning APN sent the following message to every House office:

Dear XXX,

Tomorrow, HR 2194, the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, is scheduled to be brought to the floor for a vote under suspension of the rules. APN strongly opposes this legislation.  We urge members to vote "No" or "Present" on this bill.   We urge Members to recognize that:
 
This bill is NOT a straightforward, simple, non-controversial effort to help the President pressure Iran.   For a table identifying problems with the bill click here.  In general, HR 2194 is a bill that:

    * takes authority away from the President, tying his hands on key national security strategy. This is NOT a measure that would, as its supporters say, give additional authority to the President. It is a bill that
    * targets the Iranian people, in the hope that if the people become miserable enough they will pressure their government to change course. This is a strategy that few experts believe will work, and a strategy that has a very poor track record in other contexts (Iraq, Cuba, Gaza). Indeed, experience has demonstrated that with sanctions like these, the most likely and immediate result will be a backlash by the people of Iran against the United States, not against the Iranian regime.
    * limits US options regarding Iran for many years to come, by imposing requirements that could conflict with future efforts to negotiate an international solution regarding Iran's nuclear program and by extending current sanctions legislation (the Iran Sanctions Act, which does not expire until 2011) until 2016, without any discussion or debate.
    * conflicts with the approach currently being pursued by the Obama Administration, which is focused on building international support for multilateral sanctions.  Last week the Administration weighed in regarding the Senate version of IRPSA, noting that "We are entering a critical period of intense diplomacy to impose significant international pressure on Iran. This requires that we keep the focus on Iran. At this juncture...this legislation, in its current form, might weaken rather than strengthen international unity and support for our efforts."

We urge Members of Congress to recognize that moving this bill in the House right now, under the assumption that it will be stopped in the Senate, is not a risk-free strategy; last week efforts were launched to move the Senate version of the bill by Unanimous Consent. And just like in the House, Senators are facing tremendous pressure to move the bill from the same groups that are pressuring the House.
 
We have opposed HR 2194 since it was introduced. We believe that at its premise it reflects a misguided and potentially self-defeating approach to the challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program.  We have supported and continue to support smart, targeted sanctions that are part of a broader US strategy to deal with this critical foreign policy and national security challenge. Unfortunately HR 2194 is not about smart, targeted sanctions.
 
We urge members of Congress to oppose HR 2194 in its current form and to oppose precipitous action on it in the House.
 
For members who feel they cannot vote against HR 2194, we urge them to vote "present" and speak out on the House floor and make clear their concerns.
 
For members who feel they cannot vote "no" or "present," we urge them to express on the record their concerns and their hope that the bill will be improved if and when it is re-considered in a House-Senate conference.

 
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about this issue.


Sincerely,

Lara Friedman
Director of Policy and Government Relations
Americans for Peace Now