The Forward, the weekly newspaper, reported this week that there is a “showdown brewing” between the White House and Congress over legislation that would sanction companies doing business with the government of Iran. “The Iran legislation is intended to increase economic pressure on Tehran by forcing the White House to impose sanctions on companies investing in Iran's energy sector, to deny tax breaks for companies trading with Iran and to stop nuclear cooperation with Russia if it continues to support Iran,” the newspaper reported. With some 300 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, and growing support in the Senate, supporters of the bill feel they can use their veto-proof majority to go ahead with the original language of the bill, denying the White House waiver power. The legislation's chief sponsor, Representative Tom Lantos (Democrat from California), has said that he is worried that the Bush administration could veto any sanctions using a “presidential waiver.” The administration has yet to send Congress a formal letter of opinion on the bill, but officials have made it clear they want it changed. State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said Thursday that “while we want to do everything we can to push the Iranian government toward compliance with its international obligations, we also want to make sure that that's done in a way that continues to hold together the broad international coalition that we've worked to build.”
