UANI Applauds Indiana General Assembly for Passing Iran Contract Debarment Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 23, 2012

Contact: Nathan Carleton, [email protected]

Phone: (212) 554-3296

 

UANI Applauds Indiana General Assembly for Passing Iran Contract Debarment Law

 
New York, NY - On Thursday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) applauded the Indiana General Assembly for passing legislation to bar companies doing business in Iran from contracting with the State of Indiana.

 

Indiana's House passed the bill--SB 231--by a unanimous 95-0 vote this week, sending it to Governor Mitch Daniels's desk. It had previously been passed by the Indiana Senate.

 

UANI last year sent Indiana lawmakers a copy of UANI's model contracting legislation, as well as a letter urging them to introduce it in Indianapolis. On January 17, UANI Executive Director David Ibsen testified before the Indiana State Senate in support of SB 231.

 

The bill was introduced by Senator Thomas Wyss, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security, Transportation, & Veterans Affairs. Indiana is now set to join the states of California, Florida, and New York in barring companies that do business in Iran from receiving state contracts.

 

Said UANI President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, who in August 2011 wrote the Op-Ed "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran":

 

Indiana lawmakers have sent a powerful message to companies that continue to irresponsibly do business in Iran. Once Governor Daniels signs this bill into law, these companies will have to make a choice: pull out of Iran, or lose their contracts with the State of Indiana.

 

By passing contract debarment laws, legislatures across America are joining the international movement to economically isolate the Iranian regime. As Iran moves ahead on its path to nuclear capability, it is time for the most robust sanctions on the regime in history, and time for national, state, and local governments to employ all of the economic leverage they have.

 

California, Florida, and New York have already passed Iran debarment legislation, adapted from UANI model legislation, and Maryland has also introduced such legislation. UANI unveiled the "Iran Business Certification Act" in June 2009, which shortly thereafter was introduced in U.S. Congress as the "Accountability for Business Choices in Iran Act."

 

Florida's legislature has also passed the "Iran Banking Certification Act," which would impose new rules on state-chartered financial institutions to certify that their corresponding banks are not engaged in federally-prohibited activities with Iranian-linked counterparts.

 

As the Financial Times reported, California has been enforcing its law, the 2010 Iran Contracting Act, and has succeeded in pressuring several multinational corporations to end their business in Iran. The State of California now publishes a list of companies prohibited from doing business with California due to their work in Iran.

 

Click here to visit UANI's model legislation home page.

Click here to read Ambassador Wallace's Op-Ed, "Time Has Come for States to Take Strong Action on Iran."

 

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