Steven Holt: “At the outset, I want to make one thing clear, which is that the passage of this amendment will not prevent the passage…”

“At the outset, I want to make one thing clear, which is that the passage of this amendment will not prevent the passage of the underlying bill. If this amendment were to be adopted, it would be incorporated into the bill, and the bill would be immediately voted upon. As written, Mr. Speaker, the underlying bill would not prevent potential beneficiaries of this act from doing business with the Government of Iran, whose rogue actions threaten our interests and, through their terrorist intermediaries, the interests of our ally Israel. It's a gaping loophole that this final amendment would close. The U.S. has a comprehensive embargo against the Government of Iran. Recent events have reminded us exactly how clever the agents of the Government of Iran can be in circumventing U.S. and international law in an effort to keep funds flowing to the Iranian clerical dictatorship. We saw that in the debate last week over a mining bill, during which a link between an American company and an Iran foreign investment company was discussed at length. Last week, our colleague from Florida (Mr. Deutch) offered the Republican majority an opportunity to close the loopholes in the mining bill that could benefit Iranian entities. Regrettably, that amendment was defeated on a party-line vote. I come to offer the majority another chance. The bill on the floor today would leave the door open to similar abuses.…”