"We must use all available political and economic means to truly make Iran pay for its irresponsible behavior, and to leverage for cooperation from our allies and convince them to deny Iran the resources to continue along this track," said Republican lawmaker Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the sponsor of the bill. "Sadly, time is not on our side."
Western powers, led by the United States, are convinced Iran is seeking either a nuclear bomb or the "strategic capacity" to make one. Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity.
The bill, which raised concerns at the State Department, was passed by a vote of 397 to 21. A bill must pass both houses of Congress and be signed by the US president to become law.
The bill would beef up sanctions against Iran until it scraps any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons programs, and calls for the names of any individual, company or country investing 20 million dollars or more in Iran’s energy sector to be published in the US Federal Register.
The bill also "authorizes" the US president to fund pro-democracy and human rights organizations and radio programs aimed at Iran.
The text also ended sanctions against Libya as a result of Tripoli’s renunciation of weapons of mass destruction.