UANI Applauds New York's Iran Contracting Act of 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 9, 2012
Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected]
Phone: (212) 554-3296

UANI Applauds New York's Iran Contracting Act of 2012

New York, NY - On Monday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his fellow lawmakers for introducing and passing the Iran Divestment Act of 2012. The law, drafted in cooperation with UANI, will bar companies doing business in Iran from contracting with the State of New York.

Last year, UANI sent Speaker Silver and other New York lawmakers a copy of UANI's model contracting legislation, as well as a letter urging them to introduce it in Albany. With today's action, New York will no longer be doing business with companies that work in the Iranian economy.

Said UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, who in August 2011 wrote the Op-Ed "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran":

We applaud Speaker Silver for his work and leadership with UANI on the Iran Divestment Act of 2012. We urge Governor Cuomo to sign this legislation into law, and make New York a key player in the nationwide movement to bar companies doing business in Iran from receiving U.S. tax dollars.

The Iranian regime is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism, a brutal abuser of human rights, and is developing an illegal nuclear weapons program. Any company that chooses to receive money from such a regime should be ineligible for state contracts in the U.S., and thankfully New York is now affirming that.

Three of America's four biggest states have now taken strong, meaningful stands against the regime, and UANI will continue working with lawmakers in other states to pass more contract debarment laws.  

California and Florida have already passed Iran debarment legislation, adapted from UANI model legislation. UANI unveiled the "Iran Business Certification Act"in June 2009, which shortly thereafter was introduced in U.S. Congress as the "Accountability for Business Choices in Iran Act."

As the Financial Times reported, California has been enforcing its law, the 2010 Iran Contracting Act, and has succeeded in pressuring several multinational corporations to end their business in Iran. Last year, the State of California published a list of companies now prohibited from doing business with California due to their work in Iran.

Click hereto read UANI's July 14, 2011 letter to New York lawmakers.
Click here to visit UANI's model legislation home page.
Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's Op-Ed, "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran." 

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