U.S. House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Howard P. “Buck” McKeon today released the following statement after the United Nations Security Council approved sanctions against the Iranian regime:

“I welcome the Security Council’s adoption of new sanctions against Iran. Although the resolution doesn’t go as far as we had hoped it would,

today’s action sends a strong message that Tehran’s stubborn nuclear ambitions can no longer go unanswered.

“The Security Council’s resolution should clear the way for the U.S. Congress to finally adopt its own sanctions bill, which has languished as a lower priority for months. The Obama Administration has the responsibility to take steps to make credible our policy of preventing the Iranian regime from obtaining nuclear weapons—regardless of today’s message from the international community.

“My concern is that the Administration and the President’s allies in Congress will point to today’s Security Council action as adequate in lieu of crippling sanctions imposed unilaterally by the United States or pushing for stronger sanctions from the United Nations. To that end, I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure House-passed language which prohibits the Pentagon from contracting with entities that engage in commerce with Iran’s energy sector is signed into law.”