Jane Harman: “I commend my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), for his leadership and his bipartisanship. Like him…”

“I commend my friend, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Weldon), for his leadership and his bipartisanship. Like him, I believe the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them is the key national security threat in the post-Cold War world. In particular, many of us have been concerned about the transfer of ballistic missile capabilities from Russia to Iran. This is profoundly destabilizing to the region, and it presents a direct threat to U.S. forces in the region and to U.S. allies. To properly stem this threat, we need a two-pronged approach, prevention and defense. Last fall, Senator Kyl and I introduced a concurrent resolution which passed both Chambers overwhelmingly, urging the President to impose sanctions on the Russian entities that have been providing technical assistance and technology to Iran's programs. The Harman-Kyl resolution addressed the preventive aspect of a nonproliferation strategy. Sanctions make it unprofitable for anyone to transfer sensitive weapons technology to Iran, but stopping the flow is only part of the answer. We also need to defend against the capability that has already slipped through. This bill is an important step in that process.”