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Washington, DC - As the House of Representatives prepares to switch from Democratic to Republican control in January, signals of the coming Iran agenda were on display as the Foreign Affairs Committee held its final Iran hearing under the chairmanship of Howard Berman (D-CA) on Wednesday.

Two top Obama Administration officials spent much of the hearing touting the President’s success in putting “draconian” sanctions in place against Iran, as called for by Congress.  But the officials, Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the State Department William Burns and Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Department of Treasury Stuart Levey, often found themselves on the defensive. 

“We’ve wasted enough time – fourteen years,” said Ileana Ros Lehtinien(R-FL), the top Republican on the Committee who will become its chairwoman next year.  “No more waivers, exceptions, excuses.”

While Burns and Levey highlighted that the Administration had gone further than any of its predecessors in enforcing sanctions, the Committee was largely unimpressed and demanded more strenuous measures.

“If these sanctions don’t work, then the next step would be a blockade,” said Don Manzullo (R-IL), looking over his shoulder to Ros Lehtinen.  “And the next step would be some type of—you hate to use the word—but military action.” 

Gary Ackerman (D-NY), a strong supporter of crippling sanctions pas... >>>