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For Immediate Release
January, 09 2020, 11:00pm EDT
Contact:
Mana Mostatabi, 202.386.6325 x103, mmostatabi@niacouncil.org
NIAC Statement on House Passage of Resolution to Halt Iran War
Ryan Costello, Policy Director for the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement on the passage of the resolution (H.Con.Res. 83) from Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) clarifying that President Trump does not have authorization for war with Iran:
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Slotkin, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Eliot Engel and all Representatives who voted for the resolution today deserve tremendous credit for taking quick and decisive action to clarify Trump does not have authority to ratchet up to a full-blown war with Iran.
WASHINGTON
Ryan Costello, Policy Director for the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement on the passage of the resolution (H.Con.Res. 83) from Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) clarifying that President Trump does not have authorization for war with Iran:
"Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Slotkin, Rep. Jim McGovern, Rep. Eliot Engel and all Representatives who voted for the resolution today deserve tremendous credit for taking quick and decisive action to clarify Trump does not have authority to ratchet up to a full-blown war with Iran.
"The Trump administration has lied about its assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani from the start, painting a picture of an imminent threat without evidence. Sadly, many - but not all - of Trump's Republican allies blindly accepted the administration's propaganda and engaged in a divisive campaign to distort the truth. The strike on Soleimani was a deliberate provocation ordered from Mar-a-Lago while Congress was kept in the dark. The vote today helps wrestle back war authorities from a reckless executive that has proven it cannot be trusted on Iran policy or any national security file.
"The fight will now turn to the Senate, where Sen. Tim Kaine is pushing his war powers resolution and gaining support by the day. The House of Representatives, however, should not rest given the profound stakes. We urge the House to pass Rep. Khanna's No War Against Iran Act (H.R. 5543), which would bar funding for unauthorized war with Iran and clarify that Congress has not passed a war authorization. It passed the House in a strong bipartisan vote via amendment over the summer. Moreover, we encourage the House to pass Rep. Barbara Lee's bill (H.R. 2456) to end the 2002 war authorization against Saddam Hussein's defunct regime that the administration has bizarrely cited as an authorization for its strike on an Iranian general.
"President Trump must halt his administration's lies, open diplomatic channels with Iran and seek to return to the nuclear deal. Failure to do so risks a war that would devastate the region and put the American people further away from peace."
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2002 to give voice to the Iranian-American community. From being the trusted voice on U.S.- Iran relations, to pushing forth legislation that protects individuals of Iranian heritage from systematic discrimination, to celebrating our cultural heritage, NIAC creates a lasting impact in the lives of the members of our community.
(202) 386-6325LATEST NEWS
'People Are Dying': Nearly 14,000 Nigerians Sue Shell Over Devastating Oil Spills
"At a time when Shell is making unprecedented profits, it is high time that it addressed the ongoing pollution caused to these communities by its operations," said one attorney representing plaintiffs from the Niger Delta.
Feb 02, 2023
More than 13,650 Nigerians have filed claims against Shell for years of unremedied oil spills that are causing ecological destruction, disease, and death.
As The Intercept reported Wednesday: "Niger Delta communities have been facing pollution caused by Shell for decades, devastating their health and livelihoods. In 2011, the United Nations Environment Programme reported that the threat to public health warranted 'emergency action.' At the time, the cleanup process would have taken 30 years, if initiated immediately."
"It never happened," the investigative outlet noted. "Shell refused to cooperate, and the situation has only gotten worse, with 55 oil spills in the last 12 years. Amnesty International called the Niger Delta region 'one of the most polluted places on earth.'"
Last Friday, 11,317 residents from Ogale—a rural community in Nigeria home to roughly 40,000 people—and 17 local groups filed individual claims against Shell at the High Court of Justice in London, where the company is headquartered. They joined 2,335 of their fellow citizens from Bille—an island community of around 15,000 people where fish have virtually disappeared—who had already filed individual claims against the oil giant at the High Court in 2015.
Individual claimants are seeking compensation for loss of livelihoods. In addition, class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of Ogale and Bille inhabitants in October 2015 and December 2015, respectively, are seeking compensation for damages to communally owned property, including waterways, farmland, and public infrastructure.
British law firm Leigh Day, which is managing all four cases together, said Thursday in a statement that the communities want Shell to clean up their mess and pay up for destroying local residents' ability to farm and fish, which has left many with no source of income.
"If you don't have money, you can't drink water. It's like we are living in a desert, while we are living on the water."
"As we speak, oil is spilling in my community every day," King Emere Godwin Bebe Okpabi, leader of the Ogale community, told The Intercept. "People are dying."
Chief Bennett Dokubo, a community leader from Bille, told the outlet that drinking water contaminated by Shell has led to major cholera outbreaks. Avoiding disease depends on one's ability to purchase expensive bottled water from the city.
"If you don't have money, you can't drink water," he said. "It's like we are living in a desert, while we are living on the water."
Shell executives have so far managed to avoid accountability during the seven-plus years the Ogale and Bille communities have been engaged in litigation against them.
In February 2021, however, plaintiffs scored a procedural victory when the United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled unanimously that there was "a good arguable case" that Shell plc, the parent company in London, was legally responsible for the pollution generated by its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC). The court ordered the case to proceed to trial to determine whether Shell and SDPC are guilty of harming the Niger Delta communities and should pay for redress.
In response, Shell argued in its November 2021 defense filing that "the company had no legal responsibility to deal with the consequences of spills," The Intercept reported. "The oil giant contended that any legal claim must be brought within five years of any specific spill, even if a cleanup never took place. Shell also claimed that only the Nigerian regulatory authorities have the power to force them to clean up; those authorities, however, are chronically under-resourced."
Leigh Day warned Thursday that Shell's legal arguments, if successful, "will have far-reaching consequences." As the law firm explained: "The implications of these legal arguments are that oil-impacted communities in Nigeria will be unable to seek cleanup of their environments. In addition, communities would be unable to claim compensation for loss of livelihoods unless they are able to prove the damage was caused by operational failure within five years of the date of issuing the claim. For most Nigerian communities living with legacy pollution, that would essentially deprive them of any legal remedy against oil companies."
Conversely, Bloombergreported that "if the oil giant loses the upcoming trial, it could open U.K.-incorporated firms—including in the energy and mining industries—to potentially costly lawsuits in British courts from groups around the world that accuse them of harm through overseas subsidiaries."
Matthew Renshaw, a partner at Leigh Day who represents the Nigerian claimants, lamented that "instead of engaging with these communities, Shell has fought them tirelessly through the courts for the past seven years."
"At a time when Shell is making unprecedented profits, it is high time that it addressed the ongoing pollution caused to these communities by its operations," said Renshaw. "The question must be asked whether Shell simply plans to leave the Niger Delta without addressing the environmental disaster which has unfolded under its watch?"
"It appears that Shell is seeking to leave the Niger Delta free of any legal obligation to address the environmental devastation caused by oil spills from its infrastructure over many decades."
Shell reported Thursday that its profits more than doubled in 2022 to a record $40 billion.
All the money Shell has made from exploiting the Niger Delta's people and environment since it discovered oil in the area in 1956 "is blood money," Okpabi, the king of Ogale, told The Intercept. "And we are going from courthouse to courthouse."
Although cleanup would cost Shell a fraction of its annual profits—roughly $1 billion for the first five years, according to a recent U.N. estimate—Renshaw told the outlet that the company has been "incredibly resistant" to any form of public health oversight or probes, adding that it is vulnerable to much more litigation.
"There are literally hundreds of communities that have been impacted by Shell's oil pollution," he said, "and could seek to bring legal claims against Shell."
As the cases against it mount, Shell has moved toward abandoning the region. The company announced in 2021 that it plans to leave the Niger Delta and sell its onshore oil fields, leaving wrecked communities and ecosystems in its wake.
Last June, however, "Shell was forced to suspend sales, complying with a Nigerian Supreme Court ruling that said it had to wait for the outcome of an appeal over a 2019 oil spill, brought in Nigerian court, which stated the company needed to pay the Niger Delta communities nearly $2 billion in compensation," The Intercept noted.
Regarding Leigh Day's current case, the full trial in London's High Court is expected to occur in 2024.
"This case raises important questions about the responsibilities of oil and gas companies," said Leigh Day partner Daniel Leader.
"It appears that Shell is seeking to leave the Niger Delta free of any legal obligation to address the environmental devastation caused by oil spills from its infrastructure over many decades," Leader observed. "At a time when the world is focused on 'the just transition,' this raises profound questions about the responsibility of fossil fuel companies for legacy and ongoing environmental pollution."
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'I Didn't Come to Congress to Be Silent,' Says Omar as GOP Removes Her From Foreign Affairs Panel
"Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy? Frankly, it is expected, because when you push power, power pushes back," Rep. Ilhan Omar said.
Feb 02, 2023
House Republicans on Thursday voted to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the chamber's foreign affairs committee, a step that prompted fury from Democratic lawmakers who called the GOP's resolution an act of "unbelievable bigotry."
Speaking for herself in floor remarks ahead of the vote, Omar (D-Minn.)—a vocal defender of global human rights and trenchant critic of U.S. foreign policy—said that "this debate today is about who gets to be an American."
"What opinions do you have to have to be counted as American? This is what this debate is about," Omar continued. "There is this idea that you are suspect if you are an immigrant, or if you are from certain parts of the world, of a certain skin tone, or a Muslim."
"Is anyone surprised I'm being targeted?" Omar asked. "Is anyone surprised that I am somehow deemed unworthy to speak about American foreign policy? Frankly, it is expected, because when you push power, power pushes back."
The congresswoman ended her speech on a defiant note, declaring, "I didn't come to Congress to be silent... My leadership and voice will not diminish if I am not on this committee for one term."
\u201cRepresentation matters.\n \nWe didn\u2019t come to Congress to be silent.\n \nWe came to Congress to be a voice for families who are displaced in refugee camps and those seeking justice around the world.\n \nBecause that\u2019s what this child survivor of war would have wanted.\u201d— Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Rep. Ilhan Omar) 1675357773
Thursday's vote came after the handful of Republicans who had previously expressed opposition to removing Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee flipped their votes to yes. One Republican, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), voted present.
Every House Democrat who voted opposed the GOP measure.
In the debate that preceded passage of the resolution, Democratic lawmakers rallied to Omar's defense, spotlighting the GOP's association with and embrace of neo-Nazis and condemning the resolution as a racist stunt veiled as a rebuke of antisemitism.
"Republicans are waging a blatantly Islamophobic and racist attack on Congresswoman Omar," said Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.). "This is despicable."
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), who is Jewish, said in her impassioned remarks that she doesn't "need any of you to defend me from antisemitism," referring to the Republican side of the aisle.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), a top ally of Omar's, dismissed the GOP's rationale for the resolution and characterized the vote as another act of "racism and incitement of violence against women of color in this body."
"Don't tell me that this is about a condemnation of antisemitic remarks when you have a member of the Republican caucus who has talked about Jewish space lasers," Ocasio-Cortez said, a reference to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), for her part, cast the vote as an attempt to "distract the American people" from the GOP's lack of a serious legislative agenda.
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GOP AGs Threaten Pharmacies If They Dispense Abortion Pills by Mail
"If abortion medication isn't available—if pharmacies literally don't carry it, or only have limited quantities available—we will see unprecedented suffering," said one rights advocate.
Feb 02, 2023
A month after the two largest pharmacy chains in the United States announced their efforts to become certified to dispense abortion pills by mail, in accordance with a new Food and Drug Administration rule, the Republican attorneys general of 20 states on Wednesday warned the companies that providing the medications by mail in their states could result in legal action against them.
In a letter co-signed by 19 attorneys general from states that have banned or attempted to ban abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Attorney General Andrew Bailey of Missouri wrote to officials at Walgreens and CVS and suggested that they could face litigation if they follow new regulatory guidelines introduced by the FDA in early January.
The agency announced last month that retail drugstores can dispense mifepristone and misoprostol—drugs used for medication abortions, which accounted for 51% of abortions in 2020 according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rule reversed strict regulations that for decades required patients to obtain mifepristone only at health clinics, which medical experts have long said were unnecessarily limited people's access to the pills and were rooted in politics rather than science.
"The prohibition and difficulty in accessing abortion pills has no medical basis, just a political one."
Both pharmacies
said soon after the rule was changed that they were beginning the process of becoming certified to send abortion pills to patients who have a prescription for them from a healthcare provider, in states where abortion care is legal.
The attorneys general who signed Bailey's letter on Wednesday claimed the companies will be in violation "not only of federal law, but also of the laws of the various states" if they follow the FDA guidance.
Two states—Indiana and Texas—have
imposed bans on medication abortions starting at a certain point in pregnancy, while 18 states require patients to be in the physical presence of a prescribing clinician to obtain mifepristone and misoprostol—restrictions that run afoul of the new federal regulations.
A manufacturer of mifepristone filed a lawsuit late last month to overturn West Virginia's abortion ban, arguing that the FDA's approval of the drug preempts the state's law.
The Biden administration also issued a legal opinion last month saying the U.S. Postal Service can mail abortion pills to states with abortion bans or severe restrictions, if the sender does not intend to break the law.
Of the 20 states whose attorneys general signed the letter sent Wednesday to CVS and Walgreens, 10—Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, and Utah— still permit abortion care. Several of the states have attempted to ban the procedure but the proposals have been blocked.
Despite this, the attorneys general suggested that sending abortion pills to patients in their states will violate their laws.
"These state laws reflect not only our commitment to protecting the lives and dignity of children, but also of women," wrote Bailey. "We emphasize that it is our responsibility as state attorneys general to uphold the law and protect the health, safety, and well-being of women and unborn children in our states."
The right-wing attorneys general "are in the wrong here," said women's rights group UltraViolet.
\u201cHonestly what is the problem with accessing medication at a retail pharmacy???\n\nThese 20 conservative attorneys general are in the wrong here. The prohibition and difficulty in accessing abortion pills had no medical basis, just a political one.\nhttps://t.co/X3DJT60wYt\u201d— UltraViolet has the #ReproReceipts (@UltraViolet has the #ReproReceipts) 1675350567
The letter comes just over a week after South Dakota's Republican governor, Kristi Noem, joined state Attorney General Marty Jackley in
threatening the state's pharmacists with felony charges if they distribute abortion pills.
If the pharmacies cave to the demands of the Republicans, said author and advocate Jessica Valenti, people in the 20 states in question "will no longer have access to one of the most common forms of miscarriage treatment."
"If abortion medication isn't available—if pharmacies literally don't carry it, or only have limited quantities available—we will see unprecedented suffering," she
said.
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