The International Relations Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to extend the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act for another five years by a 41-3 vote on 20 June. ILSA, which is due to expire in August, punishes companies that invest more than $20 million in Tehran's energy sector. The legislation now must be voted on by the full House. The White House had proposed extending the sanctions by only two years, and three members of the committee had backed this proposal. Representative Benjamin Gilman, who sponsored the five-year extension of sanctions, countered, "We should not give the impression that they can wait us out." Representative Tom Lantos said that Iran and Libya could end the sanctions if they altered their behavior. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Assefi said, "The extension of sanctions has been against the hypocritical will of the U.S. government and is expressive of the influence of Zionist lobbies in that country," Islamic Republic News Agency reported on 23 June. (RFE/RL)