20 May 1998
SESTANOVICH, BIDEN DISCUSS POSSIBLE RUSSIAN SANCTIONS
(Law may sanction entities aiding Iran's ballistic missiles) (520) By Rick Marshall USIA Staff Writer Washington -- The Senate is poised to vote on legislation that would mandate sanctions on Russian individuals, businesses, and government entities that have transferred technology which contributes to Iran's ballistic missile efforts. The House of Representatives has already passed a version of the Iran Missile Proliferations Sanctions Act. If the Senate does the same, as is expected later this week, the administration will be faced with a choice of vetoing the bill, which the Congress could well override, or imposing the sanctions. The legislation, as it currently stands, does permit the President to waive the sanctions under certain conditions. At a hearing on Russian policy May 20, the State Department's Stephen Sestanovich, special adviser to the secretary of state for the Newly Independent States, argued that passing the bill "will be profoundly counterproductive to U.S. national interests with respect to Russia." The legislation "risks inadvertently undermining our efforts to stop Russia's support of Iran's missile program and is unnecessary in light of existing legislation." Further, it lacks a "sufficiently flexible waiver provision ... the proposed standard of evidence is too low ... (and) sanctions appear to be required even if an entity is not aware that the item is going to Iran or will be used in missiles," he stated. According to Sestanovich, Russian President Boris Yeltsin told President Clinton on the 17th, when they met at the G-8 summit in England, that he would "use all the powers of his office to stop sensitive technology transfers to the Iranian missile program. "Our goal is a Russian export regime that is rigorous and meets Western standards. The actions the Russian government has taken put it firmly on the right track," he stated. Joe Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee appeared sympathetic to the administration's concerns, saying that now "would not be an ideal time" to impose the sanctions. However, he added, "there's nothing you can do about it." The Senate has voted unanimously to hold the vote and Majority Leader Trent Lott has scheduled it. Unless Lott changes his mind -- and no one in the Senate challenges it -- "there's going to be a vote. And if there's going to be a vote, it's going to win," Biden said. The question then is whether President Clinton would be able to find the votes to sustain a veto, he added. Biden said that the Russian government or departments of it have violated past agreements not to transfer ballistic missile technology to Iran, but that there finally appears to be "a dawning" on Moscow that such activity should be brought under control. But, he added, "it ain't done yet." "My greatest concern is the new government," he commented. Were it not for them, there would be no point in trying to hold the sanctions back, "because clearly they're in violation." Sestanovich conceded that "there has been a Russian flow of technology.... They haven't fixed the problem yet." "It's not easy to get results out of the Russian system now."
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