Brad Sherman

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a member of both the Committee on Ways and Means and the Homeland Security Committee, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Pascrell).

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to the gentlelady from Texas (Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson), who is the chairperson of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and, more importantly, is the author of this important legislation.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution, and I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank our colleague from Texas, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson, for introducing this important and timely legislation, and I look forward to hearing her remarks as we proceed with this debate. As we speak, millions of our Muslim friends and neighbors around the world are in the midst of Ramadan, a holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal. The observance of Ramadan requires devotion to faith, community and family, truly universal values we all share. During the month of Ramadan, observant members of the Islamic faith fast from sunrise to sunset and focus their attention on the teachings of their religion as well as purity of thought and action. It is appropriate and necessary for the U.S. House of Representatives to mark the commencement of this important event which began this year on September 13 and continues for one lunar month. This legislation expresses the deep respect we all feel for Muslims in the United States and around the world. Since the horrific events of September 11, 2001, unfortunately, peaceful patriotic members of the Islamic faith have been subject to hateful and demeaning threats, words, even acts of violence. This House must stand with these law-abiding citizens in this time of conflict. I strongly support this legislation and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 635) recognizing the commencement of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting and spiritual renewal, and commending Muslims in the United States and throughout the world for their faith, as amended.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the Senate bill (S. 1612) to amend the penalty provisions in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and for other purposes.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this bill, and yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, IEEPA, has over the years enabled the United States on various occasions to impose significant economic sanctions and limitations on terrorists, terrorist groups and their supporters, on financiers and on some of the worst rogue regimes in the world. It has allowed three Presidents to keep the U.S. dual-use export control system in operation against the efforts of states like Iran and North Korea to require sensitive dual- use technology and equipment. IEEPA has accomplished this goal, even though Congress has been unable to reauthorize the long-expired Export Administration Act, and I hope that later in this Congress we do reauthorize the Export Administration Act. That act was the original basis for the system of export control which is now handled through IEEPA. Immediately after 9/11, IEEPA authority was used to freeze the assets of terrorist, terrorist organizations and their supporters and to hobble the international terrorist network that sought and still seeks to kill and maim innocent Americans. Yet the penalties for violating IEEPA's provisions are lighter than they should be. Send $1 million as a gift to Osama bin Laden and you get as a maximum penalty a $50,000 fine and 10 years in prison under the act. The same is true for unlawful exports of sensitive commercial technology, equipment and components that have military applications that are controlled for national security purposes. If you send a milling machine for shaping nuclear warhead cores to either Iran or North Korea, the same maximum fine and prison terms under the act apply. This bill increases the penalties to a level that I think is consistent with the importance of making sure that Americans do not, whether for ideological reasons or financial gain, deliberately violate our efforts to control terrorism and to prevent the spread of weapons of mass destruction. S. 1612 increases civil penalties from $50,000 up to $250,000, or to an amount that is twice the amount of the transaction that is the basis of the violation with respect to which the penalty is imposed. It also increases criminal penalties for willful violations from $50,000 up to $1 million and/or imprisonment for not more than 20 years. This increase in penalties is appropriate given the importance of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to our national security. I urge my colleagues to support this bill. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 3 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for his support of the bill. I thank Chairman Lantos and our ranking member, Ms. Ros-Lehtinen, for their work in bringing this bill to the floor. IEEPA is but one part of an overall effort to use the economic power of the United States to prevent terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons. I think we have adequately covered in today's debate the importance of this bill to strengthen IEEPA; but I now would like to put IEEPA into overall context and take a look at some of the other economic measures that we should also be employing in our effort to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. This House passed H.R. 1400 designed to improve the Iran Sanctions Act. We need to press our colleagues in the Senate to pass that bill as well. But even more important, we need to press the administration to enforce the Iran Sanctions Act. Many of us know that as the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, or ILSA. What happened is both the last administration and this administration applied those sanctions to investments in the Libyan oil sector. That was effective. Gaddafi changed his policies, and so we had to rename the bill the Iran Sanctions Act, as we lifted sanctions from Libya. Unfortunately, both the last administration and now this administration have been unwilling to enforce what is now the Iran Sanctions Act, which would be our best tool to put pressure on the regime in Tehran. We need to close Iranian access to the U.S. financial system. I applaud the Treasury Department for blocking access to the New York Federal Reserve Board branch in New York to two major Iranian banks, which begs the question: Why not the others as well? We need to stop World Bank loans to Iran. We need to urge upon our colleagues in the Senate that they pass H.R. 2337, known in their house as S. 1430, to allow American pension plans to divest from those companies doing business in Iran, and we need to urge the Senate to pass similar legislation already passed through this House doing the same thing with regard to investments in Sudan. Finally, we need to make sure that our procurement laws and our laws for assisting businesses like the Ex-Im Bank and OPEC also require that corporations stop investing in the oil sector of Iran if they want the support of U.S. Government agencies. It is time for us not to assume that the only possible response is either to acquiesce in a nuclear Iran or to use military action. It is time for us to get the message to Iranian elites and the Iranian people that they face true economic isolation if they continue down the current course. The way to do that is to muster all of the economic power of the United States towards achieving our national security objectives, and one small step in that direction is for us to pass S. 1612 today. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 564) recognizing that violence poses an increasingly serious threat to peace and stability in Central America and supporting expanded cooperation between the United States and the countries of Central America to combat crime and violence, as amended.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 5 minutes to one of the co-authors of this legislation, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Mr. Engel.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of this resolution and yield myself as much time as I may consume. I would like to thank my distinguished colleague, the ranking member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida, for introducing this important resolution and Chairman Lantos, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, for moving this to the floor. When it comes to military sales to Taiwan, U.S. policy is clear: We must ensure that the thriving democracy of Taiwan has the capacity necessary to defend itself from outside threats. We in the United States provide defensive military equipment to Taiwan, not just because it is right to aid our democratic friends, but because it is the law of the land under the Taiwan Relations Act. The Taiwan Relations Act, which has been the core of our policy toward Taiwan for almost 3 decades, also states clearly that the United States should base its decision on whether to supply defensive military equipment to Taiwan solely on the basis of the security needs of the Taiwanese military, not on the basis of political concerns. In the context of these guiding principles, the administration currently has before it a decision on whether to sell F-16C/D fighters to Taiwan, fighters which Taiwan has expressed a clear interest in purchasing and for whose purchase they have budgeted $488 million in their 2007 defense budget and another $764 million in their budget for 2008. The answer of the United States should be obvious. We should agree to sell the fighters without delay. Yet the administration has dragged its feet and failed even to respond to our Taiwanese friends; and this, in spite of the fact that under Taiwanese laws the funds for the fighters will no longer be available after October 31 of this year. If we do not offer to sell the planes by that date, the rules governing Taiwanese defense spending require that these funds be deleted from their budget. Some have argued that this delay is justified because in a tense political season in Taiwan, the United States does not want to be seen as taking sides in the upcoming Taiwanese election. This assertion is wrongheaded and shortsighted in the extreme. This resolution in no way indicates support for one political party or another. Furthermore, under the Taiwan Relations Act, we are supposed to make our decision based upon the needs of the Taiwanese military, not based on some argument that we would be falsely seen as supporting one political party or another, which, of course, is hardly the case if we decide to follow our own law and provide the Taiwanese military with the planes they need for military security. I support this resolution and the sale of the F-16C/Ds to Taiwan so that the people of Taiwan can protect their democracy and to advance our security interests in East Asia. My support does not in any way indicate support for any candidate in Taiwan for any elected office, nor would selling these planes or agreeing to sell them indicate the support of the United States Government for any particular political party or candidate. There are still others who claim that the F-16 sale, and this resolution, will upset the balance of the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan already has F-16 aircraft, so these additional planes will hardly upset the balance between Taiwan and China. Moreover, no one puts forward the idea that Taiwan is today going to invade the mainland. It is obvious that the weapons Taiwan acquires are for defense, not for offense, and so a country acquiring military weapons to defend itself is not upsetting the balance of power but, rather, preserving the military status quo, preserving stability and peace. I would also point out that the Taiwan Relations Act and our arms sales under this act have been instrumental in maintaining peace and security across the Taiwan Straits and in East Asia for 30 years. Under this peace, Taiwan developed from authoritarian rule into a robust and lively democracy. Taiwan has asked our assistance in defending itself, and it deserves from us the respect of a prompt response. I strongly support this resolution and encourage my colleagues to do the same. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Nevada, a member of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Ways and Means Committee, the very distinguished and dapper Ms. Berkley.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 676) declaring that it shall continue to be the policy of the United States, consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, to make available to Taiwan such defense articles and services as may be necessary for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution and yield myself such time as I may consume. I would like to thank our colleagues, Mr. Kirk from Illinois, Mr. Andrews from New Jersey, for introducing this important and timely legislation. Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons in support of terrorism and its abuse of the human rights of its own people collectively form one of the most serious threats to peace and freedom faced by our country and faced by the world. It speaks volumes that Iran is a member of the International Labor Organization and formally subscribes to the core ILO principles like freedom of association, yet continues to jail those who attempt to form independent labor unions. The mistreatment of two courageous labor leaders, Mr. Mahmoud Salehi and Mansour Osanloo, is yet another example of the unacceptable behavior of the regime in Iran. Since 2004, Mahmoud Salehi, who comes from the Kurdish region of Iran, has been jailed on trumped-up charges for the crime of trying to organize a May Day rally in his own city. Unlike many well-known Iranian dissidents, Mr. Salehi is not a writer or a professor or even a politician. He is an ordinary man, a baker by trade, who has had the courage to stand up for the rights of working people. Since April 19 of this year, he has been imprisoned and denied access to the dialysis treatments he requires. The same is true of Mansour Osanloo, who fell afoul of the regime for threatening in 2006 to lead his fellow bus drivers in Tehran out on strike. Mr. Osanloo was kidnapped from his bus by unknown parties and severely beaten. He too is now being held on vaguely worded charges. It is appropriate and necessary for the United States House of Representatives to condemn the brutal mistreatment of these leaders and call for their immediate release. I strongly support this resolution, and I encourage all my colleagues to do likewise. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the resolution under consideration.

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the concurrent resolution (H. Con. Res. 203) condemning the persecution of labor rights advocates in Iran, as amended.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding, and I thank him for this outstanding piece of legislation. Yesterday, at Columbia University, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made two points that were newsworthy. First, there are no gay people in Iran. Second, there is no nuclear weapons program in Iran. These two points are equally true. To focus on Iran's nuclear program, we do not need military action. I want to emphasize that this bill does not authorize, it does not justify, it does not urge military action in any way. In fact, it gives us an alternative, and that is economic and diplomatic pressure. Now, we owe a special debt of gratitude to the mullahs who are running Iran, because their mismanagement, corruption and oppression has made their government vulnerable, vulnerable even in an $80-a- barrel world. Today, Iran faces a slow decline in its oil fields. Without further investment, they won't be exporting oil in 10 years. Today, as I speak, they are rationing gasoline in Tehran. We need to be able to use our considerable broadcasting resources to send a message into Iran for the people and elites of that country: that you face diplomatic and economic isolation if you don't abandon your nuclear program. The problem is that none of us can lie that well in Farsi. We have not imposed economic isolation on Iran. But with this bill, we can begin. We have acquiesced in World Bank loans to the Government of Iran. With this bill, we stop putting money into the unit of the World Bank that is making loans to Iran. We ought to look at other things we can do to make sure that there are no further World Bank loans to Iran. Currently, we import from Iran--not oil, but only the stuff we don't need, and they can't sell anywhere else. This bill ends imports from Iran. With regard to oil companies, again, we owe a special debt of gratitude to those mullahs whose outrageous business practices and threats of expropriation have made oil companies reluctant to invest in Iran. But now we have got to make them more reluctant to invest in Iran. This bill turns to foreign subsidiaries of U.S. oil companies and bans their investment in Iran. With regard to foreign-based oil companies, it sends a clear message: Don't do business with Iran if you expect to do business-as-usual in the United States. We have had that kind of sanction against foreign- based oil companies for quite some time under what was then called the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA). We applied that act against Libya, and it worked. It is now time to apply that act with regard to oil companies investing in Iran. This bill moves us a long way in that direction.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Mr. Chairman, this amendment affects the portion of the bill within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Chairman Lantos accepts the amendment and commends the gentleman for his excellent work.

Mr. SHERMAN. The amendment affects a portion of the bill within the jurisdiction of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Chairman Lantos accepts the amendment and commends the gentlelady and her co-authors on their excellent work.

Mr. SHERMAN

Mr. SHERMAN. Madam Speaker, I have cosponsored H.R. 3327 to amend the Animal Welfare Act to prohibit dog fighting ventures because of the terrible problem of dog fighting. The author of the bill has assured me that in the committee process the penalties imposed on spectators will be modified.