Media Center

Yesterday, Representative David Scott (D-GA) and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman called for a Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation into the alarming growth of U.S. exports to Iran. The GAO study was requested in response to an Associated Press (AP) report earlier this year stating that U.S. exports to Iran – including cigarettes, cosmetics, perfume, fur clothing, musical instruments and possibly weapons –grew more than tenfold during the Bush Administration.

"The lax oversight of exports during this administration is cause for much concern. It calls into question the procedures of approving exports to Iran," stated Rep. Scott. "While it is necessary that we assist the Iranian people with humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food, we must be clear that it is in our national security interest that we enforce prohibitions on certain exports to Iran and that we ensure that exemptions to U.S. trade sanctions are not being abused.

Rep. David Scott is Vice Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade.

For your convenience, a copy of the request letter sent to the Government Accountability Office is attached. 

                                                                       ###