Political Quotes

“I thank Senator Lautenberg for his longstanding leadership on this issue. It is timely for him to raise it again now in the wake of the IAEA's recent report on Iran's illicit nuclear activities and in the midst of our efforts in the Banking Committee to ratchet up the pressure on Iran's leaders through additional sanctions. As President Obama noted last week when he imposed a new round of sanctions using the tools Congress gave him, Iran's government has persistently refused to abide by its international obligations, and it is time to turn up the heat in an effort to persuade its leaders to come clean on their nuclear program. While U.S. sanctions enacted last year, multilateral sanctions, and other efforts have slowed Iran's nuclear program and damaged its key revenue-generating energy sector, it remains my urgent priority to strengthen sanctions further to ensure that Iran effectively has no choice but to change its current path. That is why we are acting to sanction Iran's Central Bank today as well. On the issue you have raised, I think it is long past time for U.S. subsidiaries to withdraw from doing business in Iran. That is already happening due to U.S. and other international pressure on the business and financial sectors. Firms realize the huge risks this activity poses, reputationally and otherwise, to their companies.…”