ADL Letter to The Palm Beach Post

Date: December 23, 2009

Note: This letter was published in The Palm Beach Post on December 23, 2009.

Letters to the Editor                                                        December 16, 2009
The Palm Beach Post

To the Editor:

House wisely ratchets up pressure on outlaw Iran

A nuclear-armed Iran would be a clear and present threat not only to Israel, but also to America and the world. With the government of Iran's continuing refusal to engage on its nuclear program, combined with its intent to build a nuclear weapon and the ability to deliver it to target, the passage of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act by the U.S. House of Representatives could not have been timelier.

The legislation pressures Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities by authorizing the president to sanction foreign firms providing refined petroleum to Iran. Furthermore, it marks a shift in U.S. policy from overtures to pressure in its attempt to persuade the Iranian government to change its course. Iran continues to be a state sponsor of terrorism, and its leaders continue to call for Israel's elimination along with their propagation of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial.

The leadership of House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., and ranking member U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, should be commended for crafting and moving this legislation to passage. The Anti-Defamation League urges the Senate to take swift action on similar legislation.

ANDREW L. ROSENKRANZ, ADL Florida Regional Director