Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

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Mr. ENGEL. I thank the gentleman.

Madam Speaker, only a few short months ago the world learned of the secret Iranian nuclear enrichment facility near the city of Qom. If there was any doubt that Iran was trying to build nuclear weapons, this revelation dispelled any shred of that doubt.

The facility, kept secret from the International Atomic Energy Agency, was built deep in a mountain on a protected military base. This is how a country conceals a nuclear weapons program and defies U.N. Security Council resolutions, not how it develops peaceful energy technologies.

Although Iran is a leading producer of crude oil, it has limited refining capability. This bill will increase leverage against Iran by penalizing companies that export refined petroleum products to Iran or finance Iran's domestic refining capabilities. It's my hope that the administration will apply these additional sanctions to make absolutely clear to the Ahmadinejad regime that the world will not accept its nuclear ambition.

The U.S. and our allies in the U.N. Security Council have recognized that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a danger to the Middle East, to our ally, Israel, and to the nuclear nonproliferation regime. A nuclear-armed Iran is simply unacceptable, and we must support this sanction. To my colleagues who say that sanctions don't work, it only hurts the local population, the same argument, discredited argument, was made against South African sanctions. That worked. These sanctions will, too.

Support the legislation.

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