REP. ANDREWS PROPOSES INTERNATIONAL GASOLINE EMBARGO ON IRAN

We cannot allow Iran’s nuclear ambitions to succeed.  While I agree that all options must be left open, including the use of military force, I believe that is premature to look to a military solution to solve this problem whether other diplomatic options are still available.  That is why I have proposed an international gasoline embargo against Iran.  Iran imports forty percent of its refined gasoline to keep prices at home artificially low – 30¢ per gallon.  The idea is that if gas prices dramatically increase, angry Iranians would overthrow their hawkish leaders and install a more moderate government that would work with the global community to honor nuclear non-proliferation treaties. 

The Iranian President’s call earlier this week for the destruction of Israel is outrageous and serves as the latest in a long string of warning signs that the current regime is a grave threat to not only Israel’s security and our own, but to the entire world’s.  Israel is the region’s only democracy and the only government that legitimately represents the will of its citizens.

I favor Iranian regime change but believe an embargo’s steep economic penalties will more peacefully curtail Iran’s hard-liners than premature military action. Therefore, I have co-sponsored H.CON.RES 177 which would authorize the U.S. to initiate such an embargo.  As co-chair of the Iran Working Group in the House of Representative I am working towards bipartisan Congressional consensus so the U.S. can take swift action to defuse the growing threat from Iran. 

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