Political Quotes

“I thank the ranking member for yielding. I also want to thank my colleague, Rob Andrews, because we wrote the first version of this legislation in 2005. It has been 5 years of work. I want to commend the chairman for bringing it to the floor. I have a prepared statement I will insert in the Record with one simple statement: Mr. President, sign this bill and then seal off Iran's gas. That is the best way to empower diplomacy. The gasoline sanction is the only sanction which has a chance of working. This legislation has overwhelming bipartisan consensus, already supported by 512 Members of Congress to back this. And I want to really thank my original partner on this, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). Mr. Speaker, as the Iranians accelerate their nuclear program, what are our options? We know Iran's greatest weakness: its dependence on foreign gasoline. Despite being a leading OPEC oil exporter, Iran has grossly mishandled its economy since 1979 and is now forced to import the bulk of its domestic supply. Realizing this crucial vulnerability, I wrote the first gasoline sanctions resolution with my colleague Congressman Rob Andrews in 2005. Over time, my colleagues and I built a bipartisan, bicameral congressional coalition with Congressman Sherman, Senator Kyl and Senator Lieberman behind a policy of ending Iranian gasoline sales. After 5 years, Congress finally considers our gasoline restriction legislation today. It comes not a moment too soon.…”