On the recordJune 24, 2010
I thank the chairman for his leadership. Mr. Speaker, this bill has teeth, real teeth, great big, nasty sharp teeth that are finally going to force businesses and banks around the world to choose between the American economy and financial system, or business as usual with Iran's theocratic dictatorship. This bill has real sanctions. Not maybe sanctions, not sort of sanctions, but real sanctions. This bill has real sanctions- investigation requirements, not maybe we will look at it. And not, we will try to get to it when we can, but clear and legal requirements to investigate potential violations. In short, this is a bill that forces the question, will the world watch passively as Iran crosses the nuclear arms threshold, or will we join together to compel Iran to pull back from the nuclear brink? We cannot guarantee the success of these measures. Ultimately, the choices lie with the regime in Tehran. But it should be clear that we are doing all that we can to impose on Iran the highest possible costs for its defiance, that we are demonstrating by our actions and by our efforts the depths of our commitment to peacefully ending Iran's illegal nuclear activities. We are trying diplomacy. We are trying unilateral sanctions. We are trying multilateral sanctions. We are trying our utmost to avoid making conflict inevitable. But there should be no question about the absolute determination of the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring the capability to produce nuclear weapons.
