Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “as recently as last month, Iran blatantly refused to respond to the August 31 deadline as set forth by the United…”

“as recently as last month, Iran blatantly refused to respond to the August 31 deadline as set forth by the United Nations Security Council to stop enriching its uranium in exchange for a very generous incentives package. We have tried to coax. We have tried to induce. We have tried to talk the Iranians into cooperating. Enough with the carrots; it is time for the stick. We hope that all freedom-loving nations are allies in this struggle for nonproliferation efforts and would, out of their own volition, take the necessary steps to hold Iran accountable for its own behavior. However, sometimes even friends need a little prodding. Writer Charles Krauthammer points out the chilling reality of the opportunity costs of not dealing effectively with Iran at this time. He says, ``If we fail to prevent an Iranian regime run by apocalyptic fanatics from going nuclear, we will have reached the point of no return. It is not just Iran that might be the source of great concern, but that we will have demonstrated to the world that for those similarly inclined, there is no serious impediment.'' This bill will help contain the Iranian threat and will send a clear message that we will not tolerate flagrant violations of international nonproliferation obligations.”