House Requires Report on Consequences of Military Strike on Iran
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 31, 2012
CONTACT: Jessica Rosenblum, 202.448.1600 or 202.279.0005 (c), [email protected]
House Requires Report on Consequences of Military Strike on Iran
WASHINGTON — J Street applauds today’s vote by the House of Representatives to require an intelligence report on the consequences of a military strike on Iran.
“Today’s vote reaffirms that Congress is hearing the warnings of American and Israeli security experts who believe that a military strike on Iran would not only fail to stop its nuclear program, but could actually trigger its acceleration,” said Dylan Williams, J Street’s Director of Government Affairs. “Members of Congress ultimately don’t want to enter into a conflict which fails to achieve its objectives and results in devastating losses to our troops and our allies.”
Representatives John Conyers (D-MI), Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) introduced the reporting requirement as an amendment to the Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 5743). The amendment, which passed by voice vote this afternoon, requires the Director of National Intelligence to submit to Congressional intelligence committees a report containing an assessment of the consequences of a military strike against Iran within 60 days of the passage of the overall bill. J Street lobbied in support of the amendment.
The House’s action is the latest indication of a Congressional shift in dealing with concerns over Iran’s nuclear program. Last week, seventy-one Members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama expressing support for diplomatic efforts to address concerns over Iran’s nuclear activities. Earlier this month, the House accepted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) declaring unequivocally that nothing in the NDAA authorizes the use of force against Iran, and a long-stalled Senate resolution on Iran was reintroduced with similar language expressly disclaiming an authorization for war.
These developments in Congress come as Israeli media outlet YNET reported today that a majority of Israeli defense chiefs oppose an attack on Iran.
J Street believes that a nuclear weapons-armed Iran would pose a very serious threat to American and Israeli interests and to peace and stability in the Middle East and around the world. J Street lobbies in support of a combination of tough, targeted sanctions and diplomacy to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.