In Case You Missed It: Time has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran
In Case You Missed
It: Time has Come for
States to Take Strong Action on Iran
Op-Ed
by UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, Runs
in Local Papers Across America, Calls on States to Pass Contract
Debarment Laws
The
following Op-Ed by UANI President, Ambassador Mark D.Wallace, has
appeared in
more than a dozen publications over the past week, including newspapers
in Illinois, Florida, California, New York, and New Hampshire.
Time Has Come for
States to Take Strong Action on Iran
By Mark
D. Wallace
August
28, 2011
Recently,
both California and Florida enacted laws barring companies that do
business in
Iran from receiving state contracts. They follow last year's passage of
sweeping sanctions at the federal level.
The logic
underpinning all of these laws is straightforward: lucrative state and
federal
contracts funded by American taxpayer dollars should not be awarded to
companies doing business with a regime that is aggressively pursuing a
nuclear
weapons program, training and supplying weapons to terrorists who are
killing
U.S. troops, and engaging in egregious human rights abuses inside its
own
borders.
United
Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) believes it is time for America's other 48
states
to join California and Florida in their support of U.S. foreign policy
and
security interests by adopting similar legislation. Recently, UANI sent
model
legislation to state Governors and lawmakers, and urged them to passing
laws
that would force companies to end their business in Iran, and in turn
economically pressure Iran's regime.
The
stakes are high-the threat of Iran succeeding in its quest to acquire
nuclear
weapons is as destabilizing and frightening of a possibility as the
world has
dealt with in decades. Iran's history of funding terrorism throughout
the world
is also well-known, and U.S. troops on the battlefields of Iraq and
Afghanistan
are increasingly being killed by high-tech Iranian weapons.
For the
first time, the U.S. government has also formally detailed Iran's
alliance with
al-Qaeda. The Treasury Department recently reported that Iran continues
to
harbor senior al-Qaeda operatives and is facilitating the transfer of
large
amounts of cash to al-Qaeda's top leadership in Pakistan. Commenting on
this
insidious relationship, David Cohen, the Treasury Department's
Undersecretary
for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said "By exposing Iran's
secret
deal with al-Qaeda, allowing it to funnel funds and operatives through
its territory,
we are illuminating yet another aspect of Iran's unmatched support for
terrorism."
Americans
have traditionally understood that the conduct of foreign policy is
primarily
the responsibility of the President and the U.S. Congress. This does
not mean,
however, that individual states have no role to play in foreign policy,
particularly when action at the state level can bolster and reinforce
the goals
already supported by the president and enacted into legislation by
Congress.
Clarifying
the role that states can and should play in U.S. foreign policy on Iran
is
precisely what the U.S. Congress and President Obama have done. Section
202 of
the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act of
2010,
passed last year with overwhelming bipartisan support, specifically
grants
state and local governments the authority to take action against those
persons
that engage in business activity in Iran. By passing debarment laws
like
California and Florida have, the other 48 states can now send a strong
message
to the Iranian regime and force companies to make a choice between Iran
and the
American people.
When
presented with the choice of doing business with the United States or
with Iran
most companies will ultimately make the right decision. California
passed its
law earlier this summer, and has already seen numerous multinational
corporations end their business activities in Iran after being warned
that they
would lose their state contracts. The truth is that contract debarment
has
proven to be incredibly effective at pressuring companies to pull out
of Iran.
Companies
should not need, of course, any pressure to pull out of Iran. As
President
Obama recently noted, "International companies are increasingly
recognizing the risks of doing business with Iran and are abandoning
existing
business opportunities, declining to take advantage of new ones, and
scaling
back any existing relationships." Sadly, though, some have chosen to
pursue short-term profits at the expense of U.S. national interests.
While it
may not be politically expedient to say, the business these companies
do in
Iran increasingly is tantamount to trading with the enemy.
The U.S.
Congress, President Obama, and now California and Florida have taken a
stand.
It is time for the other 48 states to make their voices heard and stop
supporting companies that support a regime with American blood on its
hands. If
common sense, morality, and reason will not lead companies to
voluntarily end
their irresponsible business dealings in Iran, then perhaps denying
them
lucrative contracts funded by our taxpayer dollars will make them see
the
light.
Mark
D. Wallace is president of United Against Nuclear Iran. He served as
U.S.
ambassador to the United Nations, as representative for U.N. management
and reform.
Click here to read
the piece on the Nashua Telegraph's website.
Click here to send a message
to your State Governor and Representatives about contract
debarment.
Click here to read the letter
UANI sent to State Governors and Representatives calling for contract
debarment.
Click here to visit UANI's
Model Legislation homepage.
Click here to read UANI's new
Iran Contracting Model Legislation on contract debarment.
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