US committee sends Iran sanction bill to House floor
By the OGJ Online Staff
WASHINGTON, DC, June 20 -- The House Committee on International Relations Wednesday voted to extend by 5 years a controversial law designed to punish foreign oil companies that invest over $20 million/year in Iran or Libya.
The committee voted 41-3 to renew the legislation through August 2006.
The legislation now will be reviewed by House leaders and could be scheduled for a floor vote before the July 4 break.
House Republican leaders have pledged to renew the law before it expires this August. An overwhelming majority of lawmakers from both parties, including Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) rejected a White House-backed amendment offered by Ron Paul (R-Tex.) to extend the law by only 2 years (OGJ Online, May 23, 2001).
The White House cautioned that a 5-year extension would antagonize US allies with investments in Iran and might complicate an interagency review of sanctions policy under way. The Senate has yet to schedule hearings on a similar bill that, like its House counterpart, has wide bipartisan support.
It is uncertain whether the Bush administration would consider vetoing the legislation in its present form. Industry lobbyists said a veto is unlikely given the popularity of the bill on both sides of the aisle.
Instead, the White House may work with senators to stall the bill and prevent passage before Congress adjourns this fall. Vice-Pres. Dick Cheney, when he was chairman of Halliburton Co., said sanctions were counterproductive and put US companies at a competitive disadvantage in the global marketplace.
The Iran-Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 gives President George W. Bush wide latitude with regard to sanctions. And US officials say it was the threat of sanctions, rather than actual trade bans, that discouraged investment in either country. Former President Bill Clinton never imposed any of the sanctions allowed under the law, instead exempting European countries from penalty because it was in "the national interest" to do so.