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Berman: Iran Sanctions Bill Empowers Obama
(Politico) Laura Rozen - Fresh from the overwhelming passage of the Iran sanctions bill he introduced, Rep. Howard Berman said he believed his bill would empower the Obama administration's Iran policy efforts, not force its hand. "The House passage of this legislation empowers the administration to point out that, 'Here is a way a lot of people in Congress want to go,'" Berman (D-CA), the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said after the vote. "The administration did not say, 'Go ahead,' and they did not tell me not to go ahead," he acknowledged. "And I have been as transparent as I could be with them. When I entered the bill, I said I wanted to give the diplomacy/engagement strategy a chance to work." Asked if he would accept a final bill that gives the president greater discretion on the matter, Berman said he would be quite open to exempting foreign countries that are shown to have a robust sanctions regime in place from the final bill. Israeli ambassador to Washington Michael Oren praised the House vote. "The State of Israel deeply appreciates the unflagging commitment of President Obama and the U.S. Congress to prevent Iran from acquiring the military nuclear capability threatening world peace," Oren said. A senior White House official said that U.S. and international credibility would be hurt if they didn't demonstrate that they were serious after weeks of telegraphing the end of the year deadline for Iran to show progress on the engagement track, or face consequences.