Roy Blunt: “I think that Iran has more potential than any other country to destabilize the world today. President Bush should be…”

“I think that Iran has more potential than any other country to destabilize the world today. President Bush should be given the tools necessary to work toward a diplomatic solution in the crisis that we now face with Iran and that Iran, frankly, presents to the world. I believe the solution to this problem is in this legislation. I think this does point us in a direction that can work. The mandatory sanctions for any entity that is assisting Iran to have the potential for weapons of mass destruction are important. They don't have to be targeted at a country, but those countries who are helping make that happen need to get the attention of this Congress and this government. This declares that we also intend as a Congress to avoid implementing agreements with countries that cooperate in this area with Iran. This provides new tools to the President to prevent money laundering that can be used to provide Iran and other dangerous countries with weapons that endanger our people. Passage of this bill today sends a powerful message to Iran and to those who would support that country's weapons development, a program that we need to be sure that we punish that behavior.”