Washington, DC -U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, late last week introduced two pieces of legislation to strengthen sanctions against rogue regimes that threaten the United States. The Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Reform and Modernization Act (H.R. 2105), introduced with U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), amends the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act to expand the range of proliferation sanctions and the activities subject to sanctions. The Syria Freedom Support Act (H.R. 2106), introduced with U.S. Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), seeks to strengthen existing U.S. sanctions against the regime in Damascus to address the totality of the Syrian threat. Statement by Ros-Lehtinen:

"The continued collaboration between Iran, North Korea, and Syria helps drive the dangerous programs and policies of each of these rogue states, and endangers the United States and our allies. The threats posed by these rogue regimes to free nations, and to the oppressed people of these three countries, grows every day.

"I have introduced two strongly bipartisan measures to address the threats posed by Iran, North Korea, and Syria. The Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Reform and Modernization Act (H.R. 2105) will strengthen laws already on the books which seek to prevent these rogue states from sending dangerous materials to one another, other rogues, and extremist groups.

"The Syria Freedom Support Act (H.R. 2106) strengthens existing laws on the books against Damascus, and targets the Syrian regime's Achilles heel - its energy sector. It also imposes asset freezes and travel bans against those responsible for violating the human rights of the Syrian people.

"Each of these bipartisan bills is designed to help protect our nation from the threats posed to our security and interests by the Iranian, North Korean, and Syrian regimes.