In a unified showing of bipartisan Congressional support for stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability, both Democratic and Republican leadership called for increasing pressure on Iran and pushing forward the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, H.R. 2194, at the National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran held on Sept. 9 in Washington, D.C. Senior Administration officials also delivered off-the-record briefings on Iran and the dangers posed to the region and around the world. In his remarks, Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said, “Absent some compelling evidence as to why I should do otherwise, I will mark up [the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act] next month and begin the process of tightening the screws on Tehran.”

Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD), House Majority Leader, Rep. John A. Boehner (R-OH), Rep. Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), House Republican Whip, Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee Chair, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Republican Ranking Member, House Foreign Affairs Committee, also addressed the national and community leaders gathered at the Sixth and I Historic Synagogue in Washington.

More than 300 leaders of national Jewish organizations and 30 communities met with large numbers of members of Congress to encourage the administration to take full advantage of the tools provided by the proposed legislation to advance the international effort to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear arms capability. In opening the day’s proceedings, Joe Kanfer, Chair, UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America, commented that “We come to our nation’s capital not only as Jews, but as Americans, because a nuclear armed Iran threatens fundamental U.S. national interests.”

Reflecting support for President Obama’s position that Iran’s acquisition of nuclear arms capacity is “unacceptable,” the Advocacy Day was focused on urging implementation of strong economic and diplomatic measures directed at the Iranian regime and the expeditious adoption of key legislative initiatives now before Congress, including the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act.

Rep. Ros-Lehtinen said that she joined Rep. Berman in introducing H.R. 2194 in an effort to “hit the Iranians where they are most vulnerable – namely, their ability to purchase refined gasoline products,” adding that she hoped the act would become law before the 30th anniversary this November of the taking of the American embassy and the American hostages by Iranian radicals.

The Congressional leaders agreed that the threat presented by a nuclear armed Iran would pose a grave threat to the entire Middle East region, Western Europe and fundamental U.S. national security interests.

Rep. Hoyer noted that 250,000 Americans are already within the range of Iranian weaponry. If Iran were to have nuclear weapons, just the possession of such weapons would change the calculus of the Middle East. “The world must not ignore the consequences of Ahmadinejad’s words. As long as Iran continues developing its nuclear weapons program, substituting talk for action is not acceptable. While this does not preclude talks, we must engage in action in a timely fashion,” he said.

Stating that the United States must lead any true effort of dealing with Iran and that the time for diplomacy is over, Rep. Boehner commented that a sanctions bill “will send a real signal to the world community and to Iran that the United States means business. Moving the sanctions bill forward is important for bringing the international community behind U.S.-led efforts.”

Rep. Lowey added that both the United States and the international community would not sit idly by as Iran pursues nuclear weapons. “For the last 10 years, Iran has engaged in deception, concealment and evasion. The International Atomic Energy Agency inspections must be strengthened. Vigilance is necessary to ensure that strong economic sanctions are working and any loophole that Iran may take gets shut down,” she said.

The Congressional leaders also voiced strong support for Israel as an ally in the Middle East. Noting that nearly 15 percent of Congress, both democratic and republican, were in Israel in the beginning of August, Rep. Cantor stated “Israel is an essential pillar in our national security policy.” Rep. Hoyer added that the U.S.-Israel relationship is “absolute, essential and consistent.”

Participating delegations represented most major metropolitan areas from across the country, including Los Angeles and San Diego, Calif., Miami, Fla., Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Ill., Boston, Mass., Baltimore, Md., the Greater New York City area, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pa., and Dallas, Texas, and the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

“This gathering represents a broad consensus, developed through a unique cooperative process over the past month, with a commonly-held sense of urgency and the need to raise this issue as a top priority,” said Harold Tanner, immediate past chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

A message of support focused particularly on those being denied their human rights in Iran was conveyed from John Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO.

The opening session concluded with a panel discussion of top Jewish leaders, including Howard Kohr, executive director of AIPAC; David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee; Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League; and Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, and moderated by Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chair of the Conference of Presidents. The panel discussed ways to reach out to the broader American public and emphasized that the threat of a nuclear armed Iran is not an issue of the Jewish community or of Israel, but of the United States and the entire world.

The national and community leaders also were encouraged to participate in the nationwide demonstrations planned for Thursday, September 24th. The main event will take place at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, across from the United Nations on September 24 at 12:00 noon when Iranian President Ahmadinejad is expected to be at the General Assembly meeting. Demonstrations also are planned in several European countries.

In addition to meetings with members of Congress, National Jewish agency leaders also met with a number of embassies, including Italy, Japan, Russia and India to discuss the importance of achieving international cooperation and consensus on this issue.

The National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day was organized by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Iran, which includes the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, UJC/Federations of North America, and NCSJ: Advocates on behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia, as well as numerous national Jewish organizations and friends of the community.