mr. chairman , i yield myself 3 minutes . 
mr. chairman , i wanted to rise in strong support of the previous amendment by the gentleman from virginia ( mr. cantor ) xz4000600 and the gentlewoman from nevada ( ms. berkeley ) . 
it is an important initiative , one that i have been working on in similar context for some time as a member of the committee on international relations . 
it is certainly appropriate that we be voting on this amendment tonight , the day after iran admits that it has once again lied to the international community , this time about its plutonium experiments , 5 years after they said that they had ceased continuing such experiments . 
for nearly two decades , iran has pursued a clandestine nuclear program , while claiming it had to keep this program hidden from the international community because of sanctions against it . 
iran has repeatedly stated that it will never give up its right to enrich fuel for peaceful purposes under the nuclear nonproliferation treaty . 
what they have here is clearly a pattern of deception . 
they have forfeited their right to any peaceful nuclear technology when they deliberately hid the activities , facilities , and materials of their nuclear program from the entire world for nearly two decades . 
let us be clear . 
iran is a country with huge oil and natural gas reserves . 
they simply do not need nuclear power for energy consumption . 
that is why i am very happy to support this amendment . 
we need to send a very clear message . 
it is clearly in the national security interest of the united states that iran can not move forward with impunity , and , certainly , that we do not , through the iaea , give it operational capacity to do so ; to be able to have the ability , for example , at the bushehr nuclear facility , to be able to have operational capacity . 
that is why that amendment is clearly so important . 
i look forward to the state department authorization bill , where language has been included that we hope moves us closer , along with the security council , to coming to understand the grave nature of the challenge that we face in iran and its nuclear energy . 
mr. chairman , i yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from new jersey ( mr. andrews ) xz4000080 . 
