Mike Levin: “I am one who has cosponsored a version of the Iranian sanctions amendment which Senator Santorum offered now over a year…”

“I am one who has cosponsored a version of the Iranian sanctions amendment which Senator Santorum offered now over a year ago. I believed then and I believe now that it may well be necessary for sanctions to be imposed on Iran. However, I cannot support the amendment that has been offered by Senator Santorum for two reasons. One is the fact that it is significantly broader than the other amendment that was introduced by Senator Santorum, the Iran Freedom and Support Act of 2005. In many ways, it is broader and it interjects an unrelated issue with respect to Russian pricing for nuclear reactor fuel. It removes the requirement that a person have actual knowledge of the actions for which he is going to be sanctioned. There is a direction here to a United Nations representative, which was not present in the amendment I cosponsored. It changes the threshold which makes it more difficult for the President to waive sanctions. So there are a number of significant differences between this and an amendment I cosponsored. The other difference is that, of course, there has been significant change which occurred since that time. Senator Warner has outlined that point. That change is now the decision of the administration--which I support--to engage or participate in direct talks with Iran under specified circumstances.…”