Washington - U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Banking Committees, today spoke on the floor of the Senate to call on Congress to pass the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Sanctions Consolidation Act, a bi-partisan bill that increases economic pressure on Iran and closes loopholes in the current sanctions regime, including tightening the noose on the IRGC. The legislation will be the focus of a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Thursday, October 13, 2011.

The following are excerpts from the Senator's remarks on the Senate floor:

"We have heard FBI evidence of an alleged plot by Iran and its elite Quds Force to assassinate a foreign diplomat on US soil - an extraordinary act of international terrorism that demands, at a minimum, immediate enactment of the most robust sanctions against Iran possible.

"Were it not for the vigilance of the American intelligence community, the FBI, and all of our law enforcement and intelligence agencies working together, this plot could have taken not only the life of Saudi Arabia's Ambassador to the United States, but hundreds of innocent Americans here in Washington.

"In the coming weeks, we will hear the exact details of this incredible plot and the extent of the involvement of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. We know the Revolutionary Guard in Iran is at the highest levels of the Iranian government. This is why I specifically targeted the Revolutionary Guard in the Iran sanctions legislation that is now law.

"The new legislation I call on my colleagues to support -now has 76 bipartisan co-sponsors - and will consolidate our original sanctions law.

"Iran's actions demand that we move this legislation in the Congress as we simultaneously go to the United Nations, to the international community, and bring to bear whatever pressure we can to convince the Chinese and the Russians to agree to tighter sanctions against Iran.

"I, for one, am not shocked at the revelations we have heard in the last 24 hours. I have known what this regime is capable of, what it intends, and what it will do to achieve its goals. The time has come for this Congress to take the first step in responding to this egregious plot to conduct an assassination in a downtown Washington restaurant.

"Our first act must be to immediately respond with tougher sanctions that isolate Iran politically and economically. Sanctions that will: Freeze the assets of IRGC members and allies and shut down the IRGC's sources of revenue; expedite the imposition of sanctions; force companies to decide whether they want to do business with the United States or Iran; and ensure that the United States is an Iranian Oil Free Zone by banning imports of refined petroleum made with Iranian crude.

"To that end, - along with Senators Lieberman, Kyl, Gillibrand, Casey, Kirk, and Collins -- I introduced the "Iran, North Korea, and Syria Sanctions Consolidation Act of 2011. It's a bill that recognizes that, if Iran's principal goal is to acquire weapons of mass destruction - and apparently conduct brazen attacks on American soil against international officials -- then it must also be the policy of the United States to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring the capability to threaten its neighbors and to threaten nations around the world.

"This legislation closes the loopholes in our sanctions policy. It insists on a comprehensive diplomatic initiative within the United Nations to qualitatively expand the UN Security Council sanctions regime against Iran so that Iran cannot find a financial safe harbor or a willing partner anywhere in the world. It imposes immigration restrictions on senior officials from Iran, North Korea and Syria and their associates who seek to enter our country and it compliments those sanctions, by reaching out to the Iranian people -- facilitating democracy assistance and developing a comprehensive strategy to promote Internet freedom and access to information inside of Iran.

"These sanctions will help deter the threat Iran poses to U.S. national security because of its suspected nuclear weapons program, and will have an impact on Iran's ability, through the IRGC and its intelligence arm, to carry out another plot like the one we have uncovered.

"We need the ban on trade with Iran to be strong, significant, and air-tight - a ban that does not have Americans subsidizing the very regime that seeks to harm us by purchasing gasoline and diesel that are made with Iranian crude.

"Iran's actions have made it a rogue nation that must be dealt with in the strongest terms. We cannot wait for another plot like this to be uncovered; we cannot take the chance that the next one will not be uncovered. Passing the new sanctions I have proposed is a start, and we cannot, as a nation, falter. The time to act is now."

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