In a letter to Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.), the chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, Sherman said the trial of the “Iran 13,” the Jews accused of spying for Israel, is symbolic of Iran’s failure to change its policies. He also noted Iran’s continued support of terrorism.
Congress has acted on similar proposals in the past. In 1994, the foreign aid bill reduced the U.S. appropriation to the World Bank by $460 million, the amount of the loan package approved for Iran.
This year’s foreign operations bill is scheduled for debate this week.
The $800 million U.S. contribution to the World Bank goes to a global development branch, which provides long-term loans at zero interest to extremely poor countries.
MacDonald acknowledged that some members of Congress would be reluctant to support the measure because it would result in a cut in World Bank funding to nations with few resources.
But if the lawmakers’ proposal is adopted, the $231 million taken from the World Bank’s international development arm would be transferred to a U.S. counterpart agency, which also supports poorer countries.
While the letter first circulated last week, by Tuesday the proposal had support from only eight members of Congress. If it fails in subcommittee, according to Sherman, there will be a bigger push to get an amendment introduced in the full House Appropriations Committee.
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called the proposal a “useful step.”
“We support efforts to send a strong message to Iran,” he said.
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