Howard Berman: “The bill does not affect exports to Iran. The bill affects and imposes sanctions on companies which invest in Iran…”

“The bill does not affect exports to Iran. The bill affects and imposes sanctions on companies which invest in Iran, which meet the threshold of investment in Iran, and just in Iran's energy sector. It is a targeted bill focused on trying to squeeze the source of financing for a totally accepted, universally acknowledged practice that the Iranians have of exporting terrorism and financing terrorism throughout the Middle East and in other areas, as well to meet their own purposes. It seeks to squeeze the financing by blocking the investments in Iran's energy sector so they are hampered in what everybody acknowledges is their concerted effort to develop weapons of mass destruction. Iran is seeking a nuclear reactor. They claim they are for peaceful purposes. This is the most oil-rich country in the world. The notion that they need a peaceful nuclear energy program for energy sources is absurd on its face.”