APN to Congress: Stand up to AIPAC on Problematic Iran Initiatives

APN is urging House and Senate members to refuse to cosponsor HR 850 and S. Res. 65.

Courtesy: desertpeace.wordpress.com

(WASHINGTON DC) - Americans for Peace Now (APN) today released the following statement with respect to two new AIPAC-backed legislative initiatives on Capitol Hill:

Today members of the House and Senate will be meeting with AIPAC supporters. One of the goals of these visits will be to tell members of Congress what is "pro-Israel" when it comes to Iran. Specifically, AIPAC supporters will be asking House members to cosponsor and vote for HR 850, the latest in a long line of AIPAC-backed Iran sanctions bills, and they will be asking Senators to cosponsor and vote for S. Res. 65 - nicknamed by some the "Backdoor to War" resolution - since it effectively gives a green light for Israeli military action against Iran that, if carried out, would almost certainly require the U.S. to join the fight.

Americans for Peace Now (APN) - America's veteran, principled and highly respected pro-peace Jewish, Zionist organization - is urging House and Senate members to recognize that, while the intentions of AIPAC supporters are sincere, the policies and positions they are asking Congress to adopt are not pro-Israel. Rather, they conflict with the best interests of both Israel and the United States, including our shared goals of addressing the critical challenge posed by Iran's nuclear program and ensuring that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

APN is urging House and Senate members to refuse to cosponsor HR 850 and S. Res. 65. Given the gravity of the issues at stake - including the potential undermining of diplomacy, the reckless encouragement of Israeli military action, and the potential for embroiling the U.S. in another Middle East war - APN is urging House and Senate members to refuse to permit HR 850 and S. Res. 65 to be ramrodded through Congress according to a timetable defined by AIPAC - or any outside group. We are urging them instead to call for a serious deliberation process, including committee hearings and markups during which concerns about both of these legislative initiatives can be aired and deficiencies in them can be addressed.

APN's detailed analysis highlighting the problems in HR 850 is available here; our detailed analysis highlighting the problems in S. Res. 65 is available here.