House Passes Another Set of Iran-Related Measures Following Attack on Israel

The U.S. Capitol building, on April 2, 2024. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

The House of Representatives passed on April 16 its second batch of measures to combat the Iranian threat following Tehran’s unprecedented attack on Israel over the weekend.

The second round consisted of seven bills and two resolutions.

The Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act of 2023 (HR 6245), introduced by Rep. French Hill (R-Ark.), passed 419-4.

Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) voted against it.

The measure would “require the secretary of the Treasury to report on financial institutions’ involvement with officials of the Iranian government, and for other purposes.”

“Iran has developed covert methods for accessing the international financial system and pursuing its malign activities, including misusing banks and exchange houses, operating procurement networks that utilize front or shell companies, exploiting commercial shipping, and masking illicit transactions using senior officials, including those at the Central Bank of Iran (CBI),” said the Treasury Department upon designating the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group in 2019.

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The 14-page bill would require the president to report to Congress no later than 180 days after the bill takes effect, and every two years thereafter, “the estimated total funds or assets that are under direct or indirect control by each of” the Ayatollah, the Iranian president, other senior Iranian government positions, and top officials of Iran’s proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. It also requires the president to report other criteria surrounding those officials.

A four-page bill, the Iran Sanctions Accountability Act (HR 6015), introduced by Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.), would require the president, no later than 180 days after the measure takes effect, to “issue regulations to ensure that each transaction ... does not facilitate, directly or indirectly support for acts of international terrorism; or the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”

The Iran Sanctions Accountability Act of 2023 passed 408-13.

Ms. Omar, Ms. Tlaib, Mr. Massie, Ms. Bush, and Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Greg Casar (D-Texas), Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), Summer Lee (D-Pa.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) voted against it.

The legislation would “require the president to prevent the abuse of financial sanctions exemptions by Iran, and for other purposes.”

The Strengthening Tools to Counter the Use of Human Shields Act (HR 5917), introduced by Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), would “amend the Sanctioning the Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act to modify and extend that Act, and for other purposes.”

The seven-page bill would apply the U.S. policy to enact and enforce sanctions against groups that use civilians as human shields to Palestine Islamic Jihad, which the United States has designated as a terrorist organization.

It passed 419 to 4, with Reps. Bush, Omar, Massie, and Tlaib voting No.

Hamas is also known to use civilians as human shields in trying to prevent Israeli military action in Gaza, which the terrorist group supports.

The Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act (HR 4681), introduced by Mr. Hill, passed 410-13.

It would “provide for the imposition of sanctions with respect to illicit captagon trafficking.” Captagon is a widely-illicit and deadly drug mass-produced in Syria, where Hezbollah has a strong presence and whose activities include drug trafficking. The bill would crack down by imposing sanctions and visa restrictions on those involved.

Captagon is a major source of revenue for the Syrian regime under Bashar al-Assad.

The No Technology for Terror Act (HR 6603), introduced by Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-Texas), would apply U.S. export controls to Iran as it pertains to technology. It passed 406-19.

The No Paydays to Hostage Takers Act (HR 5826), introduced by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), passed 391-34.

It would “require a report on sanctions under the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act, and for other purposes.”

That law, named for the former FBI agent who went missing in Iran and is assumed dead, outlines requirements that would allow the secretary of State to deem if someone is wrongfully detained abroad.

The measure would make it “the policy of the United States to undertake additional actions and impose strict penalties to deter the government of Iran and other hostile governments and non-state actors from hostage-taking or wrongfully detaining United States nationals.” Iran has a record of wrongfully taking people, including Americans, hostage.

Last year, five Americans were freed from detention in Iran.

The Solidify Iran Sanctions Act (HR 3033), introduced by Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.), passed 407-16.

It would “repeal the sunset provision of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, and for other purposes.” That law, notes the bill, “requires the imposition of sanctions with respect to Iran’s illicit weapons programs, conventional weapons, and ballistic missile development, and support for terrorism, including” the IRGC.

A resolution (H.Res. 288), introduced by Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.), calls on the European Union to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization. It passed 377-44.

Finally, a resolution , (H.Res 883), introduced by Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.), deems the Palestinian cry of “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free” as antisemitic and condemnable. It passed 377-44 with one member voting “present.”

The resolution states that the phrase is “a call for ”the eradication of the State of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea“ and ”seeks to deny Jewish people the right to self-determination and calls for the removal of the Jewish people from their ancestral homeland.”