UANI Applauds Indiana General Assembly for Passing Iran Contract Debarment Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 23, 2012 Contact: Nathan Carleton, press@uani.com 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." ### United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran should concern every American and be unacceptable to the community of nations. Since 1979 the Iranian regime, most recently under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership, has demonstrated increasingly threatening behavior and rhetoric toward the US and the West. Iran continues to defy the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations in their attempts to monitor its nuclear activities. A number of Arab states have warned that Iran's development of nuclear weapons poses a threat to Middle East stability and could provoke a regional nuclear arms race. In short, the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran is a danger to world peace. United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons. UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons. The Objectives of United Against a Nuclear Iran Inform the public about the nature of the Iranian regime, including its desire and intent to possess nuclear weapons, as well as Iran's role as a state sponsor of global terrorism, and a major violator of human rights at home and abroad; Heighten awareness nationally and internationally about the danger that a nuclear armed Iran poses to the region and the world; Mobilize public support, utilize media outreach, and persuade our elected leaders to voice a robust and united American opposition to a nuclear Iran; Lay the groundwork for effective US policies in coordination with European and other allies; Persuade the regime in Tehran to desist from its quest for nuclear weapons, while striving not to punish the Iranian people, and; Promote efforts that focus on vigorous national and international, social, economic, political and diplomatic measures. UANI is led by an advisory board of outstanding national figures representing all sectors of our country.

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