[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 21, 2016)]
[House]
[Pages H5745-H5755]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
IRANIAN LEADERSHIP ASSET TRANSPARENCY ACT
General Leave
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks
and insert extraneous materials on the bill (H.R. 5461) to require the
Secretary of the Treasury to submit a report to the appropriate
congressional committees on the estimated total assets under direct or
indirect control by certain senior Iranian leaders and other figures,
and for other purposes.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentleman from Texas?
There was no objection.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to House Resolution 876 and rule
XVIII, the Chair declares the House in the Committee of the Whole House
on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill, H.R. 5461.
The Chair appoints the gentleman from California (Mr. McClintock) to
preside over the Committee of the Whole.
{time} 1505
In the Committee of the Whole
Accordingly, the House resolved itself into the Committee of the
Whole House on the state of the Union for the consideration of the bill
(H.R. 5461) to require the Secretary of the Treasury to submit a report
to the appropriate congressional committees on the estimated total
assets under direct or indirect control by certain senior Iranian
leaders and other figures, and for other purposes, with Mr. McClintock
in the chair.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to the rule, the bill is considered read the
first time.
The gentleman from Texas (Mr. Hensarling) and the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Maxine Waters) each will control 30 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
Mr. Chairman, the Islamic Republic of Iran is identified as both the
world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism and a country of primary
money laundering concern by the United States. So the American people
rightfully question the wisdom behind the Obama administration's
decision to hand Iran $1.7 billion in cash as ransom for the release of
several hostages earlier this year.
There are a lot of questions the American people still have about
this cash payment and a lot of questions the Obama administration has
not answered, but there are at least three things that we do already
know:
Number one, we know that cash is the preferred currency of
terrorists;
Number two, we know the Obama administration's payment to Iran was
structured in such a way that it makes it easy for Iran to move that
money anywhere it wants for any purpose it wants; and
Three, we know that much of Iran's terror activity is fueled by the
vast sums of personal wealth acquired by its senior political and
military leaders.
Mr. Chairman, Iran's economy is characterized by high levels of
official corruption and substantial involvement of its security forces,
particularly the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and that nation's
business sector. Many members of Iran's senior political and military
leadership have acquired significant personal and institutional wealth
by using their positions to secure control over major portions of the
Iranian national economy. In fact, it is estimated that Iran's top
political and military leaders control one-third--one-third--of Iran's
economy through personal foundations in which money from corruption is
funneled.
Because of this volatile mix of terrorist financing, corruption, and
wealth, it is vitally important for the United States to clearly
understand the assets held by Iran's powerful military and political
elite. That is the goal of this bipartisan bill that we are discussing
today offered by my colleague, the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin).
This bill, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, would
require the Treasury Secretary to develop and post online a list
estimating the funds and assets held by senior Iranian political and
military leaders. Along with this estimate would be a description of
how these officials acquired these assets and how these assets are
being deployed. The report would be posted on the Treasury Department's
Web site in English, but also translated into the three main languages
used by the Iranian people so that the people of Iran may better
understand the nature of their economy and how corruption is harming
their fellow citizens.
Mr. Chairman, under this bill, the report would also be in a form
that is easily understandable and accessible to those in the financial
or business sector who might be concerned about inadvertently doing
business with an Iranian entity still covered by remaining sanctions.
The Iranian Government's tolerance of corruption limits realistic
opportunities for foreign and domestic investment, particularly given
the significant involvement of its Revolutionary Guard in many sectors
of the economy. This gives the Revolutionary Guard and its leaders vast
amounts of funding to support terrorism at a time when the average
Iranian citizen earns about $15,000 a year.
The report required under the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency
Act would cover about 80 individuals, including Iran's Supreme Leader,
President, the 12 members of Iran's Council of Guardians, the 42
members of its Expediency Council, and roughly two dozen senior
military leaders. As I mentioned, the bill requires an estimate of the
funds and assets held by those individuals, not a precise amount.
Further, the proposal allows Treasury to separately furnish any
sensitive information to Congress in a classified
[[Page H5746]]
form. Finally, the bill permits the administration to prepare the
reports using a wide variety of publicly available and credible
information, including commercial databases.
Developing and keeping a current estimate of the funds and assets
held by top political and military leaders in Iran will also help
financial institutions and private businesses comply with money
laundering laws and also help them more carefully choose with whom they
do business.
Just last week, the U.S. State Department said it couldn't rule out
the possibility that President Obama's nuclear deal has emboldened Iran
into becoming more confrontational with the United States. Indeed, as
the State Department spokesman admitted last week, there are
``disturbing trends'' when it comes to Iran.
Since the President's cash ransom was delivered to the ayatollahs,
Iran has taken more hostages, Mr. Chairman. It has stepped up its
harassment of the U.S. military in the region and has started building
a $10 billion nuclear plant with the help of Russia.
Clearly, we need to know as much as we possibly can about how Iran is
financing terrorism. We need to make sure financial institutions and
private businesses do not inadvertently become involved in money
laundering and sponsorship of terrorism.
Mr. Poliquin's bill has attracted bipartisan support in the Committee
on Financial Services. It is common sense. Frankly, it should be on the
suspension calendar. I am sorry we are having to take up time for it
today. This should be common sense for all Members. It is a bill that
will, again, help achieve commonsense goals as we fight financing of
terrorism. I urge all Members to support the bill.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield myself such time
as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 5461, the so-called
Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act.
The administration has stated this bill would endanger our ability to
ensure that Iran's nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful.
Indeed, this harmful bill is the latest in a series of Republican
efforts aimed at undermining the landmark nuclear agreement reached
last year by Iran and the world's six major powers.
The comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran was intended to address one
specific problem, and it has so far been a success. This success should
not be underestimated, given how much a nuclear-armed Iran would
magnify risk in a turbulent region in a terrible way.
Despite the fact that the nuclear deal so far has delivered on its
principal goal of blocking Iran's path to nuclear weapons for an
extended period of time, opponents remain committed to undermining the
ongoing viability of the deal, chipping away at it piece by piece,
whether by passing legislation to block the sale of aircraft to Iran
that was a central component of the agreement or accusing the
administration of making extreme concessions to Iran by insisting, for
example, that a legitimate legal settlement was an illegal ransom
payment of some kind or by spreading rumors of suspected cheating by
Iran. Republicans are intent on spreading this false narrative and
dismantling the agreement.
So here we are, considering this bill, which requires the Secretary
of the Treasury to report on the total estimated funds or assets under
direct or indirect control of as many as 80 senior Iranian leaders,
along with a description of how the funds were acquired and employed.
The report would not be tied to any specific prohibition or legal
action against Iran and clearly plays into the hands of critics who are
seeking to gin up prospects of reputational risks for companies that
might seek to do business with Iran.
Moreover, the lack of a tie to any specific prohibition or legal
action against the listed individuals will likely increase confusion
regarding compliance obligations rather than make remaining sanctions
more easily understood.
{time} 1515
Undoubtedly, the report would be seized upon by Iran as an
intentional effort to discourage international investment, which Iran
would view as a violation of the express U.S. commitment under the
nuclear deal not to interfere with the full realization of the relief
provided under the accord. The major world powers that joined us in
this agreement would also likely view the legislation as bad faith.
By denying Iran the economic benefits it was promised in exchange for
dismantling critical elements of this nuclear program, this bill would
remove the critical incentive for Iran to hold up its end of the
bargain.
As the Statement of Administration Policy notes: ``If the JCPOA were
to fail on that basis, it would remove the unprecedented constraints on
and monitoring of Iran's nuclear program, lead to the unraveling of the
international sanctions regime against Iran, and deal a devastating
blow to the credibility of America's leadership and our commitment to
our closest allies.''
In addition to my central concern that this bill destabilizes the
Iran nuclear deal, I also share the administration's concerns that
producing the report that is required under this bill would divert
massive resources away from investigations and the targeting of
sanctions on Iran related to terrorism, human rights violations, and
ballistic missiles.
Meeting the requirements of this bill would place a very real strain
on the Treasury Department and intelligence community. We need to think
carefully about the national security implications of diverting
resources away from the Treasury investigators who are tasked with
implementing current sanctions on Iran and uncovering illicit conduct
across the globe.
Proponents of this legislation have also underscored the importance
of the need to show the people of Iran the corrupt practices in which
their leaders are engaged. However, this bill would not accomplish that
goal.
There is a profound trust gap between the United States and Iran, and
any findings in this report would be met with a high degree of
skepticism among the Iranian people and their leaders. Therefore, to
the extent any portion of this report could actually be made public,
since much of the most important facts would likely be classified
anyway, it would do little to enlighten the people of Iran about their
leaders. In fact, it would inevitably be rejected as United States
propaganda by both the regime and by its people as a predictable attack
on the country's government by the United States.
In light of the bill's limited practical utility, its failure to meet
its own stated objectives, its diversion of resources away from
investigations related to sanctions, and the destablizing effects it
would have on the Iran nuclear deal, I urge its opposition. Moreover,
the President has announced that he would veto this bill if it came
across his desk.
I include in the Record the Statement of Administration Policy on
this bill.
Statement of Administration Policy
H.R. 5461--Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act--September 21,
2016
The Administration shares the Congress' goals of increasing
transparency and bringing Iran into compliance with
international standards in the global fight against terror
finance and money laundering. However, this bill would be
counterproductive toward those shared goals.
The bill requires the U.S. Government to publicly report
all assets held by some of Iran's highest leaders and to
describe how these assets are acquired and used. Rather than
preventing terrorist financing and money laundering, this
bill would incentivize those involved to make their financial
dealings less transparent and create a disincentive for
Iran's banking sector to demonstrate transparency. These
onerous reporting requirements also would take critical
resources away from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's
important work to identify Iranian entities engaged in
sanctionable conduct. Producing this information could also
compromise intelligence sources and methods.
One of our best tools for impeding destabilizing Iranian
activities has been to identify Iranian companies that are
controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
or other Iranians on the list of Specially Designated
Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN List) to non-U.S.
businesses, so that they can block assets or stop material
transfers. This process is labor-intensive and requires the
judicious use of our national intelligence assets.
Redirecting these assets to preparing this onerous public
report would be counterproductive and will not reduce
institutional corruption or promote transparency within
Iran's system.
In addition, this bill's required public postings also may
be perceived by Iran and likely
[[Page H5747]]
our Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) partners as an
attempt to undermine the fulfilment of our commitments, in
turn impacting the continued viability of this diplomatic
arrangement that peacefully and verifiably prevents Iran from
acquiring a nuclear weapon. If the JCPOA were to fail on that
basis, it would remove the unprecedented constraints on and
monitoring of Iran's nuclear program, lead to the unraveling
of the international sanctions regime against Iran, and deal
a devastating blow to the credibility of America's leadership
and our commitments to our closest allies.
As we address our concerns with Iran's nuclear program
through implementation of the JCPOA, the Administration
remains clear-eyed regarding Iran's support for terrorism,
its ballistic missile program, human rights abuses, and
destabilizing activity in the region. The United States
should retain all of the tools needed to counter this
activity, ranging from powerful sanctions to our efforts to
disrupt and interdict illicit shipments of weapons and
proliferation-sensitive technologies. This bill would
adversely affect the U.S. Government's ability to wield these
tools, would undermine the very goals it purports to achieve,
and could even endanger our ability to ensure that Iran's
nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful.
If the President were presented with H.R. 5461, his senior
advisors would recommend that he veto this bill.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, let me end this part of
my presentation by saying that the world is watching us. And for us to
do anything to undermine an agreement that the President has entered
into along with other major allies in the world would be devastating.
And for us to do that and not understand the implications of that is
beyond my ability to understand.
With the combination of Donald Trump, who they think is way out of
line and crazy and does not know or understand what is going on, and
these kind of actions in the Congress of the United States, who is
standing up for this country? Who is supporting the President? Who is
making sure that we are safe? I raise that question.
Mr. Chair, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick), who is the chairman of the Terrorism
Financing Task Force in our Financial Services Committee and a real
leader in this area.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Mr. Chair, I thank Chairman Hensarling for his
leadership and impaneling a bipartisan task force to investigate
terrorism finance, which I have chaired for the past 2 years, as we
have looked into the increasing ability of terror groups to fund and to
finance their actions and to evaluate the United States' response to
these challenges.
Throughout the duration of this task force, several policy experts
provided testimony to the Iranian regime's direct supportive groups
like Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, the Houthis in Yemen, and
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Damascus.
Prior to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the United States-
led sanctions regime decimated the Iranian economy, suffocating
domestic industry and causing the Iranian rial to free fall. However,
even during this economic duress, the regime continued to provide
billions to these destabilizing groups instead of providing for its
citizens.
This bill, offered by Mr. Poliquin of Maine, H.R. 5461, will provide
the citizens of the Islamic Republic of Iran--who have suffered great
economic hardship as a result of their rogue government's nefarious
policies--with the transparency necessary to see how the other half
lives.
This bill will make a positive advancement and change in their lives
and provide the ability for them to see corruption in their economy and
corruption in their government, and it will be for our security as
well.
I urge my colleagues to support the bill.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chair, I yield 5 minutes to the
gentleman from Connecticut (Mr. Himes), a member of the Financial
Services Committee.
Mr. HIMES. Mr. Chair, I rise in opposition to this bill, with all due
respect to my friends, Mr. Poliquin and Mr. Hill.
The Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act is one of those bills
that sounds like a good idea. And I am sure many of my colleagues are
thinking, Why not? Transparency is a good thing. The Iranian regime is
a bad thing. Let's support this thing. What could possibly go wrong?
I have a couple of points to make in that respect. The first one is
that--again, with all due respect to my friends on the other side--this
bill, if it is intended to get at the wealth of the Iranian leadership,
will fail, and it will fail in an embarrassing and spectacular and
almost laughable fashion.
The reason I say that, of course, is that the bill specifies that the
estimated total funds or assets held in accounts at U.S. and foreign
financial institutions shall be enumerated. Funds are defined as cash,
equity, and bonds.
So if we pass this bill, we are going to know that the Supreme Leader
has a thousand shares of IBM down at the local Merrill Lynch office.
But European real estate, private jets, boats, piles of gold bars,
stacks of unrefined heroin, Swiss watches, shell businesses in South
America, we won't know about any of them.
I ask my colleagues: How many shares of IBM do you think the Iranian
regime has down at the local Merrill Lynch office?
Probably not a lot. We froze their assets for a very, very long time.
This bill, if it passes, will get at some tiny fraction of the wealth
of the Iranian regime in a way that will, frankly, embarrass our
country because we will show how little we know, which brings me to the
second problem I have with this bill.
As a member of the Intelligence Committee, I am very concerned about
what this bill would do with respect to disclosing or at least pointing
at our sources and methods for intelligence gathering.
I think there are probably very few assets of the kinds captured by
this bill in U.S. banks or banks that we would have ready access to in
Europe, but I am not so sure there aren't perhaps cash or securities in
Albanian, Pakistani, or Russian banks. If we enumerate those assets, we
will be inevitably pointing at a capacity we may or may not have to
determine what is going on inside those banks. I would suggest that
this bill does not provide nearly enough good to put at risk the
sources and methods of our intelligence gathering.
We know what is happening here. This bill is an installment in the
relentless attempt by the majority to tank the Iranian nuclear bill.
Look, we can disagree over whether that bill was a good idea.
Certainly, we did. But the fact is--and I say this as a member of the
Intelligence Committee--it is working. Iran is in compliance with their
nuclear obligations.
The Prime Minister of Israel stood in the General Assembly a couple
of years ago and had a little drawing of a bomb and said: We are 2 to 3
months away from breakout.
Today we are probably 12 to 15 months away from an Iranian nuclear
breakout, in the worst case scenario. Yet the Republican majority, in
this latest installment, wants to make that go away. Moreover, they do
that without a backup plan.
If they succeed in tanking this bill and we are right back where we
were a year ago, 2 to 3 months away from breakout, what then?
We are isolated. We have lost the moral high ground and we are
probably a lot closer to another war in the Middle East. I don't
understand that.
So think about where we wind up if the majority succeeds. We would be
isolated, we would be closer to war, and we would be standing alone,
clutching the moral low ground.
I ask my colleagues to think about these points, as well as the good
points made by the ranking member, and to oppose this bill.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chair, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from
Maine (Mr. Poliquin), the author of the Iranian Leadership Asset
Transparency Act and a real leader in our committee and in this
Congress in the fight against terrorist financing.
Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Chair, I thank the chairman very much for moving
this very important bill through our Financial Services Committee onto
the House floor. I also want to applaud my colleagues who have done so
much work on this in our Terrorism Financing Task Force--of which I am
a member--Democrat Steve Lynch from Massachusetts and Republican Mike
Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania.
Mr. Chairman, the Iranian Government is a chief state sponsor of
terrorism and instability throughout the
[[Page H5748]]
world. For many years, the senior political leaders and the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard have trained, armed, and funded terrorist
organizations. More recently, they have become experts at using the
Internet and social media to recruit and teach other radical Islamic
terrorists around the globe. The Iranian Government, Mr. Chair, has
American blood on its hands.
The primary responsibility for every Member of Congress, Republicans
and Democrats, is to support and defend our Constitution. That means
keeping our families safe and keeping them free. National security, Mr.
Chair, is not and should never be a political issue.
Today, about 70 to 80 top political and military leaders in Iran
control approximately one-third of their economy. They use their power
and their influence to corrupt the telecommunications, construction,
and other important industries in that economy.
An investigation by Reuters found that the Supreme Leader alone has
accumulated a tremendous amount of personal wealth through a foundation
claiming to help the poor. While this corruption has grown, the average
Iranian citizen earns the equivalent of about $15,000 per year.
Mr. Chair, the people of Iran and the citizens of this world deserve
to know how much the chief sponsors of terrorism in Iran have
accumulated and what the money is being used for. Businesses around the
world that are looking to possibly invest in Iran should know before
their investment who and what they are dealing with.
Mr. Chairman, my bill, H.R. 5461, the Iranian Leadership Asset
Transparency Act, is a straightforward Maine commonsense bill. It
simply requires the United States Treasury Department to collect,
maintain, and post online the list of 70 to 80 senior political and
military leaders in Iran, their personal assets, how that money was
acquired, and what it is being used for.
My bill further requires the Treasury Department to post on its Web
site this information in English as well as the three main languages
spoken in Iran: Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri. The information must be able
to be downloaded and shared easily by everyone.
{time} 1530
Mr. Chairman, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Let's use the
transparency of one click of a computer from any corner of this globe
to expose what the chief sponsor of terrorism in this world is doing
with its money.
Americans are alarmed and frightened about the increased terror
attacks here at home and in peace-loving nations around the world.
Secrecy and corruption in Iran breed more terrorism, so let's shed
light on this destructive behavior and put pressure on the Iranian
leader to change their ways.
The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Chairman, I ask all of my colleagues here in the
House, Republicans and Democrats, to stand with me, and to stand with
our fellow Americans, and to stand with freedom-loving people
throughout the world against terrorism. I ask, please, that everyone
vote ``yes'' for H.R. 5461, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency
Act.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to
the gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Price), a leading member of the
House Appropriations Committee.
Mr. PRICE of North Carolina. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition to
the latest Republican effort to undermine the Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action, a historic nuclear agreement negotiated by the world's major
powers to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Since the deal was finalized, Republicans have tried time and time
again to undermine not just the JCPOA but also the credibility of the
President of our country, both here at home and on the international
stage.
We had this very same debate right before leaving in July, when the
majority refused to act on such urgent matters as Zika funding or
countering gun violence. Instead, they trotted out three bills that
would scuttle the Iran agreement.
Now, here we are again with two bills, one that would hinder the
U.S.' ability to abide by the spirit of the deal and one that promotes
a false narrative about American diplomatic activity. Predictably, both
bills target President Obama and could require the U.S. to violate
international accords.
As I have said before, for House Republicans the Iran nuclear
agreement has become the ObamaCare of foreign policy. Republicans
repeatedly proclaim it a failure, despite its objective success. They
call for its immediate repeal without offering any alternative, despite
the potentially disastrous consequences of such action. And they
continue to clutter the Congressional calendar with so-called message
votes designed to score political points instead of addressing the real
issues facing our Nation--such as funding research to develop a vaccine
against the Zika virus; such as funding the government for the next
fiscal year and avoiding the threat of a government shutdown; or such
as doing anything constructive that would ensure military readiness,
strengthen our infrastructure, or make our Nation more secure.
The bill before us today, H.R. 5461, would draw a Presidential veto
and would not achieve the goals the sponsor claims it would achieve.
The text of this legislation states that a new report on a select
number of Iranian assets would help the Treasury Department's ``efforts
to prevent the financing of terrorism'' and make ``required compliance
with remaining sanctions more easily understood.''
That sounds good, but, in reality, the bill would take away critical
resources used to help the Treasury identify Iranian entities engaged
in sanctionable conduct--such as human rights violations, financing
terrorism, and ballistic missile development--in order to make this new
report.
In reality, this bill would incentivize corrupt Iranian actors to
conduct their financial dealings farther and farther in the shadows. It
would actually decrease transparency in Iran's banking sector, thereby
undermining existing efforts to force Iran's compliance with
international financial standards.
In reality, the publication of this report would promote distrust and
strengthen the position of hard-liners in Iran.
These legislative antics continue, even though the opponents of the
JCPOA know full well that strong sanctions on Iran remain in place.
Instead of scoring political points or seeking to deny the President
a foreign policy achievement, we should be working together in a
bipartisan manner to ensure the agreement's success.
Mr. Chairman, we need to remember that the world is watching what we
do here today. We may think a politicized bill that has no chance of
being signed into law doesn't matter much, but, in fact, to the leaders
of China, Russia, or Iran, it sends a message of hesitation and
disunity. And to the American public, it shows that House leadership is
more interested in debating messaging bills than addressing our
Nation's most pressing policy concerns.
I urge my colleagues to oppose this bill, forego the partisan games,
and focus on the needs of Americans and the security of our Nation.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
North Carolina (Mr. Pittenger), vice chairman of our Task Force to
Investigate Terrorism Financing.
Mr. PITTENGER. I thank the chairman for yielding the time. I also
thank Congressman Poliquin for his leadership on this very critical
issue.
Mr. Chairman, we are frequently reminded that Iran remains the
world's number one state sponsor of terrorism, spreading their
terrorism throughout the Middle East and throughout northern Africa.
Terrorism takes money. Training, recruiting, smuggling weapons,
supporting sleeper cells, all of these are business activities of
terrorist organizations which require major funding.
For Iran, much of the funding comes when Iran's small network of
tyrannical leaders pilfer Iran's economy. Iran's top political and
military leaders control roughly one-third of Iran's economy, including
large portions of the telecommunications, construction, airport, and
seaport sectors. This cozy arrangement provides Iran's radical Islamic
leaders with significant cash to export terror and evil, while leaving
[[Page H5749]]
Iran's citizens to suffer the effects of a depleted economy.
The Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act will shine a bright
light on the rampant corruption and the self-serving behavior of the
Iranian mullahs. Through this report, we hope to make international
corporations aware of how their dealings with Iran are supporting
terrorism and barbaric evil and to help the Iranian people fully
understand how their supposed leaders are not operating in their best
interests.
Through this report, the American people will also better understand
why President Obama's $1.7 billion ransom payment to Iran is likely to
be used, again, to support terrorism and why President Obama's
unyielding commitment to negotiate with Iran's corrupt leaders will
ultimately make America and the world less safe.
Iran is the new evil empire, a corrupt regime intent on spreading
nefarious actions, destroying freedom, human rights, and free speech
throughout the world. They exist by sucking dry the very people they
claim to serve.
I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H.R. 5461, the Iranian
Leadership Asset Transparency Act.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Pennsylvania, (Mr. Rothfus).
Mr. ROTHFUS. Mr. Chairman, I rise today in strong support of the
Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act. While everyday Iranians earn
around $15,000 a year, corruption pervades the highest levels of the
Iranian Government, where bad actors use their wealth and positions of
power to fund terrorism and to advance their own interests. The
wealthiest and most powerful of the Iranian elites, including members
of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the foundations they run
control an estimated one-third of the nation's total economy.
While President Obama and his administration have engaged in
negotiations with Iran's leadership under the delusional pretext that
they are in any way trustworthy or honorable, we know better. The
Iranian Ayatollah's favored slogan, ``Death to America,'' should have
tipped the administration off that Iran is our adversary, not a peace-
loving ally.
President Obama's foreign policy with respect to Iran has set America
back, endangering us and our allies. And with the implementation of the
Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, he has funneled billions of dollars
to the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Indeed, Iran funds
Hezbollah, which was responsible for more American deaths than any
other terrorist organization prior to September 11, 2001.
This legislation is among several key efforts the House is making to
mitigate the damage the Obama administration has already done by
providing Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief and cash
payments.
Requiring increased transparency regarding the funds that Iran's
leaders hold, many of whom are engaged in sinister activities, will
help financial institutions and private businesses comply with money
laundering, related laws, and more carefully decide with whom they do
business.
Mr. Chairman, to a large degree, holding corrupt Iranian leaders more
accountable is a matter of life and death for Americans and our allies.
Iran has made its evil intentions toward America clear, and its leaders
are intent upon harming us. I strongly urge this House to pass this
crucial legislation.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such
time as I may consume.
Mr. Chairman, we have received any number of letters and
correspondence in opposition to this bill, but I thought it would be
important to just share with you one such communication from J Street,
which is an Israel lobbying group. They basically say that:
`` . . . in light of its limited practical utility--this bill appears
to be yet another piece of a sustained effort by US opponents of the
JCPOA and other diplomatic engagement with Iran to undermine the
agreement by weakening the domestic standing of Iranian President
Hassan Rouhani and his allies vis-a-vis Iranian hardliners who also
oppose the agreement and bilateral dialogue. It is likely not a
coincidence that proponents have arranged for floor consideration of
this bill just as Rouhani is in the United States for the United
Nations General Assembly, and that it would require the finalization of
the first report around the time of the next Iranian Presidential
election.
``Hindering the US Government's ability to enforce the terms of the
JCPOA and sanctions on Iran's dangerous non-nuclear behavior while
simultaneously undermining Rouhani's standing would make America and
our allies less safe and redound to the benefit of the very Iranian
hardliners who seek to do us harm. Risking these consequences for the
sake of procuring information that could not be shared with its
intended audience would be both pointless and reckless. We therefore
urge Members of Congress to oppose this bill.''
That is from J Street, the Israel lobbying group.
Mr. Chairman, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Texas (Mr. Williams).
Mr. WILLIAMS. Mr. Chairman, here are the facts: This summer, Congress
was made aware that $400 million worth of cash was secretly airlifted
to Iran. Two days later, an additional $1.3 billion was sent to Iran.
This comes on top of the approximately $55 billion Iran had access to
after the Iran nuclear deal was reached.
But here is something that Americans do not know: Where is all the
money going and why? Is it going to help Iran rebuild its badly aging
infrastructure? Is it going to support expanding freedoms for the
average Iranian, or improving basic living conditions? Who believes any
of that?
In June of this year, Secretary Kerry admitted: Some of the money
would go to groups labeled as terrorist organizations.
He then said: The rest of it, well, we just don't know.
I am proud to rise today in support of my friend from Maine's bill, a
bill that will provide some transparency by requiring the Department of
the Treasury to develop and post online a list that estimates the
amount of funds and assets held by senior Iranian and military leaders
and how they acquired those assets.
As a member of the Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, our
committee learned firsthand the dangers associated with approving the
Iran nuclear deal and giving them access to large amounts of cash.
Frankly, Iran's leaders cannot be trusted. They are our enemy.
Again, Mr. Chairman, the investment made by all U.S. taxpayers in
Iran was very costly. Let's make sure we hold their leaders
accountable. Please support the bill.
In God we trust.
{time} 1545
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 4 minutes to
the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Heck), a member of the Financial
Services Committee.
Mr. HECK of Washington. Mr. Chairman, I thank the ranking member.
Mr. Chairman, I rise today in opposition to this bill because, well,
it is a distraction. It is a distraction not just from the work we
should be doing--I mean, I would ask more than rhetorically exactly how
many babies have to be born with microcephaly before we actually get
serious about dealing with that proposed issue and the menace that it
threatens America with. Frankly, this bill is meant to be a distraction
from the fact that when it actually mattered, the Financial Services
Committee was absent from the debate over the Iran deal--MIA.
In May 2015, we passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act to
provide a framework to consider the Iran deal, which we all know now is
known as JCPOA. Frankly, as one Member--I know a lot of others spent a
lot of time thinking about that issue and that vote, and I, frankly,
would suggest that Members on both sides of the aisle gave this a
considerable amount of consideration, but we didn't learn anything
about it from the Financial Services Committee--zero, zip, nada.
One would think that if the committee were so concerned about JCPOA,
they would have explored these issues in detail while the deal
[[Page H5750]]
was still under consideration, just as many other committees did.
In fact, I counted more than 30 Iran-related hearings in the House of
Representatives between June 2014 and June 2016, including 9 in the 2-
month review period mandated in the REVIEW Act. In that full 2 years,
Financial Services had no Iran hearings in full committee or
subcommittee--zip, zero, nada. All we got was one solitary hearing and
a working group before the deal went into effect.
It is not just hearings where Financial Services was MIA. Since I
have arrived in Congress, we have passed at least four bills dealing
with financial sanctions or terrorism finance where the chair agreed in
writing to waive jurisdiction with an exchange of letters. On two
additional bills, the leadership brought to the floor without the
chairman's seeking to protect the committee's jurisdiction over this
critical issue.
So I would just ask, Mr. Chairman, if this issue were so important--
and it is--where was the Financial Services Committee while the JCPOA
was being debated? It was MIA. It was absent. Then, after sitting
silent while the pivotal deal was being developed, considered, and
debated, the committee has finally sprung to life to attempt to
sabotage a deal that didn't fall apart, frankly, as a lot of the
proponents of this deal would have liked.
The IAEA has stated clearly, for months, that Iran is compliant with
its nuclear-related obligations under JCPOA, but we are only now
bringing to the floor legislation that undermines our own commitments
to the JCPOA.
Sadly, it is clear that the bill we have on the floor today is about
politics. It is a distraction, and we should reject it.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from
Arkansas (Mr. Hill).
Mr. HILL. I thank the chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
Mr. Chairman, I rise in strong support of H.R. 5461 today, and I am a
proud original cosponsor of this legislation.
Mr. Poliquin's approach is simply a commonsense thing to do. When you
consider that this administration, 6 years ago, turned its back on the
Iranian people when they were trying to protest their notorious regime
and take to the streets, but then instead of aiding those citizens,
they turned their back on the people of Iran to negotiate with the
ayatollahs what I believe to be an ill-conceived and poorly designed
nuclear deal.
My friend from Connecticut (Mr. Himes) makes the point of asset
transparency and argues that this bill would not, in fact, help advance
the transparency of the Quds Force or the aggregation of these assets
in the hands of these 80 individuals. But, in fact, if the
administration was serious about transparency, they would not give the
largest state sponsor of terrorism $1.7 billion in Swiss francs and
euros to become an untraceable honey pot for the purchase of ballistic
missile components or fund terrorism in the West Bank or back Assad.
Representative Price of North Carolina talks about this act actually
strengthening the hard-liners. I would argue, if this is strengthening
the hardliners, what, in fact, did the JCPOA accomplish when we report
a 50 percent increase in incursions from the Iranian military in our
air and sea activities in the Persian Gulf?
The hard-liners in Iran called the payment of $1.7 billion a ransom--
not the people of the United States. In fact, they have taken two more
additional hostages as a result of this administration's process.
If we are not strengthening the hard-liners, then why is Iran
doubling down on acquiring ballistic missile technology and backing the
absolute destruction of Syria?
So, Mr. Chairman, I think this is a commonsense measure that will let
the people of Iran see what the 80 powerful individuals are doing with
the billions that have been freed up to come back to the people, to the
country of Iran.
Street paving is not going on, Mr. Chairman. What is going on is the
expansion of terrorism and billions in untraceable money backing a
regime that our own State Department and Treasury says is undiminished
in their sponsor of terrorism worldwide.
Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support Mr. Poliquin's
commonsense bill.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to
the gentleman from New York (Mr. Meeks), a member of the Financial
Services and Foreign Affairs Committees.
Mr. MEEKS. Mr. Chairman, let me see. Let's look at this bill.
H.R. 5461 would require the Secretary of the Treasury to submit a
report to Congress on the estimated total assets under the direct or
indirect control by Iranian leaders and certain senior political and
other figures regardless of whether such individuals are subject to
U.S. sanctions.
So what will that do? By creating this report, it would place a
substantial time and human resource burden on the Treasury and, in
fact, divert critical energy and resources away from targeting
sanctionable conduct and compliance over existing sanctions tied to
human rights, terrorism, and ballistic missiles.
Moreover, since the report would not be tied to any prohibition or
legal action, it would have little use as a compliance tool and, in
fact, would likely confuse the Office of Foreign Assets Control's
regulated publicly.
Finally, such a report would undoubtedly be seized upon by Iran--and
quite possibly by all of our P5 allies--as an intended effort to
discourage international investment in Iran, which, in turn, could be
viewed as a violation of the expressed U.S. commitment under the JCPOA
to prevent interference with the realization of the full benefit by
Iran of the JCPOA and, therefore, undermine the continued support for
the JCPOA with Iran.
So I know some people on the other side of the aisle don't believe
that this is the right thing, but it is clear JCPOA prevents an armed
nuclear Iran. We should vote against H.R. 5461.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Colorado (Mr. Tipton).
Mr. TIPTON. Mr. Chairman, it has recently come to light that this
administration may have sent the world's leading state sponsor of
terrorism as much as $33 billion in cash and gold payments over the
last 2 years.
American lives have been lost because of Iran's state-sponsored
terrorism; families have been ripped apart. Yet, just last month, we
learned that the administration paid Iran $1.7 billion--400 million of
which was in unmarked, non-U.S. currency--before they could secure the
release of American military personnel held hostage in Iran. There is
no way to track how Iran is using this money--or any of the rest of the
billions in payments it has received.
If this administration will not act to keep its citizens safe, then
the House must force its hand. This starts by holding both our
administration and Iran's government accountable. We are expressly
prohibiting any future ransom payments to Iran, and we are requiring
the Treasury to publicize any assets associated with members of Iran's
government leadership. We are also requiring the Treasury to submit a
report to Congress that shows how the assets were acquired and how they
have been put to use.
Fighting terrorism should not be a partisan issue. Depriving evil
regimes of the ability to fund terrorism should not be a partisan
issue. Mr. Chairman, I urge my colleagues to support the two pieces of
legislation that we have on the House side, on the Republican column.
Mr. Poliquin's bill, H.R. 5461, is a step in the right direction, and I
urge my colleagues to support it.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I continue to reserve
the balance of my time.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, may I inquire how much time remains?
The CHAIR. The gentleman from Texas has 7\1/2\ minutes remaining. The
gentlewoman from California has 7 minutes remaining.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Arizona (Mr. Schweikert).
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Chairman, can I bring a slightly different
discussion and weave it back into the things that have been said here?
Mechanically, we often have this conversation that if we had a more
holistic understanding of the money that was going to bad actors around
the world--
[[Page H5751]]
I am holding parts of the report here talking about 18 tons of cocaine
being moved through north Africa and then, ultimately, through Lebanon,
through the handlers of Hezbollah and a billion-plus dollars of cash.
As you and I know, we have all sat through the terrorism financing
testimony and others that Hezbollah doesn't move, ultimately, without
their puppet masters in Iran instructing them on what to do.
So take a step backwards. If I came to you and said I care about
terrorism, I care about bad actors, I care about drug resources moving
through the world, and I have the country of Iran whose proxies are
functionally, today, the leading money launderers not only in the
region, but probably the world, and then we look at what the
administration has done--I understand many people support it for the
nuclear arms side. I am fine. I am enraged that the openness and the
misrepresentation and lying--just plain lying--to Congress on the
timing, what happened, and how it was delivered--was it in cash, or was
it in wires? So a piece of legislation like this, why would we fear
another layer of just openness and disclosure saying that this is woven
into many evil, bad actors in the world that are moving billions of
dollars of illicit money and illicit narcotics, people--human
smuggling--why wouldn't we want to sort of have the view of what is
Iran's hand in it, what is their proxy's hand in it we call Hezbollah?
The CHAIR. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield the gentleman an additional 30
seconds.
Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Chairman, many of us have sat on the terrorism
finance committee, and I appreciate Chairman Hensarling for allowing me
to sit there. But the more you learn, the more you understand the
levels of complication. We have this habit around here, when we get
behind the microphones, we make things direct and simple in a sound
bite. It is complex, and there are tremendous amounts of money and bad
things happening here.
Why would a simple piece of legislation--one of the beautiful things
in here is it gives me more openness so we understand what the bad
actors are doing.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the
balance of my time.
Mr. Chairman, as I have said at the onset of this debate, it is clear
that this bill is nothing more than an effort to derail the
administration's diplomatic accomplishments with regard to the Iran
nuclear deal.
{time} 1600
After failing to block the deal from being implemented, opponents
have shifted their focus towards unraveling and delegitimizing it bit
by bit. This is despite the fact that over a year after the accord was
signed, the JCPOA is widely seen as having diffused the global security
threat of a nuclear armed Iran for at least a generation.
Despite the ongoing success of the agreement, my colleagues on the
other side of the aisle have gone to great lengths to promote a false
narrative that the administration too readily concedes to Iran's
demands, including by pushing claims that the U.S. made secret ransom
payments to Iran. Other efforts to destabilize the agreement have been
aimed squarely at violating the terms of the agreement itself.
For example, Republicans moved a spate of measures earlier this
summer that would block the sale of aircraft to Iran, despite the fact
that these sales were a central component of the nuclear agreement.
Moreover, Republicans also rushed legislation to the floor before
leaving for the last congressional recess to undermine Iran's conduct
of banking transactions outside of the United States--activity that
became permissible as part of the nuclear deal.
So while the bill before us today, H.R. 5461, may appear to contain a
simple reporting requirement, it is most certainly not a bill that
promotes our national security interests. By requiring an extraneous
report on the assets of Iranian leaders without regard to current
sanctions or other obligations, the bill would prevent the Iranian
people from receiving the full benefits of this agreement. This would
put the agreement in jeopardy and strengthen the hand of the hardliners
in Iran who want nothing more than to see the nuclear deal fall apart.
This scenario would threaten global security and deal a severe blow in
our efforts to prevent a nuclear Iran.
In closing, I would like to ask critics of the deal what they believe
their moral responsibility will be if their relentless efforts to undo
the deal are successful? How do you think rejection by the U.S. of the
nuclear deal will affect American leadership on any future foreign
policy negotiations?
Some critics of the Iran nuclear deal express outrage that the deal
has not curtailed Iran's other destabilizing influence in the region or
support for what they say is terrorism at this time.
I think it is important to note that the Iran nuclear deal was quite
deliberately focused on the nuclear issue as the paramount concern
regarding Iran's foreign policy. The Iran nuclear deal is an arms
control agreement, and in that respect, it has been successful to date.
It is my hope that the ongoing success of the nuclear deal might give
us the leverage to work toward constructing a better policy towards
Iran that will help us address the range of Iran's destabilizing
behavior in the region, but I urge my colleagues not to confuse the
legislation like H.R. 5461 with any serious effort to move us in that
direction. So rather than force the President to veto this harmful and
misguided legislation, I urge my colleagues to block this bill from
moving forward here in the House.
Mr. Chairman, I am going to reiterate that the world is watching what
we do here. I want to reiterate that we didn't just enter into this
deal by ourselves. We have all of our allies who have agreed to this
deal. If this is undermined, if it is seen to cause us to act in bad
faith, then what are we to say to our allies? What are we to say to the
rest of the world about a deal that was negotiated by the leader of
this country, the President of the United States?
If the President of the United States of America can't count on the
Congress of the United States to back him up in the world, if the
President of the United States can't count on the Members of Congress
to stand with him, and if the President of the United States can't be
comfortable that the Members of Congress are not going to make him look
as if he did not mean what he said, that he was not truthful in the
negotiation, then what can a leader do? How can a leader lead a
country?
All of us who claim to love this country and to care about its safety
and security have ourselves on the line with this legislation. This is
legislation that will be deemed to undermine that agreement and be seen
as just another attempt to undermine the President of the United States
of America. It is not concerned about whether or not we have stopped
the nuclear proliferation in Iran, not concerned that we have caused
all of that region to feel safe and us to feel safe for another
generation, but rather, pursuing to undermine the agreement simply
because they don't like some part of it or they are not able to make
the President do what they want him to do.
This is outrageous. This cannot go forward in the way that it is
intended by my friends on the opposite side of the aisle. I know that
they are smart and they are bright and they are intelligent, but they
cannot let their emotions about either not liking the President of the
United States or simply not liking Iran to get in the way of this deal
that will create safety in the world.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself the balance of my time.
I cannot imagine what the American people who are tuning in to C-SPAN
must think. They must think that when they hear our friends on the
other side of the aisle, that they have tuned in not to the United
States Congress, but to the Iranian Parliament.
Rarely have I heard so many come to the House floor to defend this
regime. Oh, oh, we might hurt their feelings if we make them disclose
their personal finances.
Mr. Chairman, every Member of Congress has to disclose their personal
finances. So what is wrong with the foremost state sponsor of terrorism
exposing their assets, their funding, where
[[Page H5752]]
they control one-third of the Iranian economy?
No. We hear: Oh, we might hurt their feelings, we may hurt their
sensibilities.
Now, many have come to quote the administration. Well, Mr. Chairman,
let me quote the administration--the State Department's Country Reports
on Terrorism. The last one noted that:
``Iran continued to sponsor terrorist groups around the world,
principally through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. . . . These
groups included Lebanese Hizballah, several Iraqi Shia militant groups,
Hamas, and Palestine Islamic Jihad. Iran, Hizballah, and other Shia
militia continued to provide support to the Asad regime, dramatically
bolstering its capabilities, prolonging the civil war in Syria, and
worsening the human rights and refugee crisis there.''
Mr. Chairman, those aren't my words. Those are the words of the
President's State Department. Now, this is their country report.
Maybe, maybe my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would like
to offer an amendment so that no longer can the State Department
publish such reports on terrorism because it might offend the
sensibilities of the Iranians.
The truth is, Mr. Chairman, this is a total red herring. There is
nothing, nothing in this bill that violates the JCPOA. I think it is a
terrible agreement. This is well known. In fact, a strong majority of
this body opposed it, but we understand the President entered into it.
How can they object? How can my friends on the other side of the
aisle object to transparency and accountability for the leadership of
the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism--again, that is the
Obama administration saying that, Mr. Chairman--how can they object to
a little transparency there and yet allow this report to come out from
the State Department?
It makes no sense at all. We heard some say: Oh, my Lord, this might
take up resources at the State Department.
Well, according to the Congressional Budget Office, this comes in in
thousands. Not millions, not billions, not trillions, but thousands.
And given that the most important thing we do as Members of Congress is
to provide for the common defense, including the common defense against
the world's foremost state sponsor of terrorism, I think that it would
be wise that we put the resources towards this report. It may be a
first because I have never heard, in the years I have been here, any of
my Democratic colleagues ever be concerned about the resources of the
United States of America, as they have worked to give us the worst debt
and deficit in the history of our Republic, an unsustainable debt that
undermines our common defense.
Again, Mr. Chairman, this is a regime involved in cyberterrorism.
This is a regime trying to develop ballistic missile technology. This
is a regime that funds Hezbollah as it rains missiles down on Israel.
The gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin) has come up with a very
commonsense piece of legislation. I applaud his leadership in bringing
forth H.R. 5461. Let's have some transparency, let's have some
accountability. We know--we know that to combat terrorist financing. We
must follow the money. We must expose the money. And that is what the
gentleman from Maine does with his bill.
I do not understand why such a commonsense piece of legislation is
being so vigorously opposed by my friends on the other side of the
aisle. Again, Americans must be in a tizzy trying to figure out if they
have tuned in to the United States Congress or the Iranian Parliament.
Let's make sure they understand this is the United States Congress. We
will stand for the common defense, we will expose this terrorist
financing, and we will stand with the gentleman from Maine (Mr.
Poliquin) and stand for all Americans, and we will vote for H.R. 5461.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Chair, I rise today to support H.R.
5461, the ``Iranian Leadership Transparency Act,'' introduced by my
colleague Bruce Poliquin.
This bill will give the Iranian people some measure of the
transparency they deserve--but have long been denied--about the corrupt
financial dealings of their government. H.R. 5461 would require the
Administration to produce an annual report on the financial and other
assets owned by Iran's senior leaders and the highest ranks of Iran's
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The report will be published in an easily downloadable format in
English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri to make sure the information winds up
in the hands of Iranians and empowers transparency advocates.
With a corruption index ranking of 130 out of 168 countries from
Transparency International and a media freedom ranking of 169 out of
180 from Reporters Without Borders, Iran is one of the most difficult
climates in which to discover and report the truth about official
corruption.
This United States Government report would provide unique insights
for Iranian and international audiences, particularly since so much of
Iran's economy is controlled by shadowy organizations, such as the
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The United States Institute of Peace
assesses that the IRGC is Iran's single largest economic force with
major stakes in most sectors of the economy, including construction,
energy, and telecommunication, among others.
To further draw back the curtain on Iran's shadowy dealings, the
report would detail how the IRGC and Iranian leaders acquired these
assets, how they use them, and any methods or techniques they have
employed to launder them.
Mr. Chair, the report will also enable us to whether the
Administration is doing everything in its power to curtail Iran's well-
known money laundering practices--which serve as the conduit for much
of the support Iran provides to the terrorist groups and armed proxies
that threaten American and Israeli lives on a daily basis.
I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
The CHAIR. All time for general debate has expired.
Pursuant to the rule, the bill shall be considered for amendment
under the 5-minute rule. The bill shall be considered as read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 5461
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Iranian Leadership Asset
Transparency Act''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Iran is characterized by high levels of official and
institutional corruption, and substantial involvement by
Iran's security forces, particularly the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in the economy.
(2) Many members of Iran's senior political and military
leadership have acquired significant personal and
institutional wealth by using their positions to secure
control of significant portions of Iran's national economy.
(3) Sanctions relief provided through the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action has resulted in the removal of
many Iranian entities that are tied to governmental
corruption from the list of entities sanctioned by the United
States.
(4) The Department of Treasury in 2011 designated the
Islamic Republic of Iran's financial sector as a jurisdiction
of primary money laundering concern under section 311 of the
USA PATRIOT Act, stating ``Treasury has for the first time
identified the entire Iranian financial sector; including
Iran's Central Bank, private Iranian banks, and branches, and
subsidiaries of Iranian banks operating outside of Iran as
posing illicit finance risks for the global financial
system.''.
(5) Iran continues to be listed by the Financial Action
Task Force (FATF) among the ``Non-Cooperative Countries or
Territories''--countries which it perceived to be non-
cooperative in the global fight against terror finance and
money laundering.
(6) Iran and North Korea are the only countries listed by
the FATF as ``Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories''
against which FATF countries should take measures.
(7) The Transparency International index of perceived
public corruption ranks Iran 130th out of 168 countries
surveyed.
(8) The State Department identified Iran as a country/
jurisdiction of ``primary concern'' for money laundering in
its 2014 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
(INCSR).
(9) The State Department currently identifies Iran, along
with Sudan and Syria, as a state sponsor of terrorism,
``having repeatedly provided support for acts of
international terrorism''.
(10) The State Department's ``Country Reports on
Terrorism'', published last in June 2015 noted that ``Iran
continued to sponsor terrorist groups around the world,
principally through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-
Qods Force (IRGC-QF). These groups included Lebanese
Hizballah, several Iraqi Shia militant groups, Hamas, and
Palestine Islamic Jihad. Iran, Hizballah, and other Shia
militia continued to provide support to the Asad regime,
dramatically bolstering its capabilities, prolonging the
civil war in Syria, and worsening the human rights and
refugee crisis there.''.
(11) The Iranian Government's tolerance of corruption and
nepotism in business limits
[[Page H5753]]
opportunities for foreign and domestic investment,
particularly given the significant involvement of the IRGC in
many sectors of Iran's economy.
(12) The IRGC and the leadership-controlled bonyads
(foundations) control an estimated one-third of Iran's total
economy, including large portions of Iran's
telecommunications, construction, and airport and port
operations. These operations give the IRGC and bonyads vast
funds to support terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah
and Hamas.
(13) By gaining control of major economic sectors, the IRGC
and bonyads have also served to further disadvantage the
average Iranian.
SEC. 3. REPORT REQUIREMENT RELATING TO ASSETS OF IRANIAN
LEADERS AND CERTAIN SENIOR POLITICAL FIGURES.
(a) In General.--Not later than 270 days after the date of
enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter (or more
frequently if the Secretary of the Treasury determines it
appropriate based on new information received by the
Secretary) for the following 2 years, the Secretary of the
Treasury shall, in furtherance of the Secretary's efforts to
prevent the financing of terrorism, money laundering, or
related illicit finance and to make financial institutions'
required compliance with remaining sanctions more easily
understood, submit a report to the appropriate congressional
committees containing--
(1) the estimated total funds or assets held in accounts at
U.S. and foreign financial institutions that are under direct
or indirect control by each natural person described in
subsection (b) and a description of such assets;
(2) an identification of any equity stake such natural
person has in an entity on the Department of the Treasury's
list of Specially Designated Nationals or in any other
sanctioned entity;
(3) a description of how such funds or assets or equity
interests were acquired, and how they have been used or
employed; and
(4) a description of any new methods or techniques used to
evade anti-money laundering and related laws, including
recommendations to improve techniques to combat illicit uses
of the U.S. financial system by each natural person described
in subsection (b).
(b) Persons Described.--The natural persons described in
this subsection are the following:
(1) The Supreme Leader of Iran.
(2) The President of Iran.
(3) Members of the Council of Guardians.
(4) Members of the Expediency Council.
(5) The Minister of Intelligence and Security.
(6) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC.
(7) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Ground Forces.
(8) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Aerospace Force.
(9) The Commander and the Deputy Commander of the IRGC
Navy.
(10) The Commander of the Basij-e-Mostaz'afin.
(11) The Commander of the Qods Force.
(12) The Commander in Chief of the Police Force.
(13) The head of the IRGC Joint Staff.
(14) The Commander of the IRGC Intelligence.
(15) The head of the IRGC Imam Hussein University.
(16) The Supreme Leader's Representative at the IRGC.
(17) The Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of the
IRGC Cooperative Foundation.
(18) The Commander of the Khatam-al-Anbia Construction Head
Quarter.
(19) The Chief Executive Officer of the Basij Cooperative
Foundation.
(20) The head of the Political Bureau of the IRGC.
(c) Form of Report; Public Availability.--
(1) Form.--The report required under subsection (a) shall
be submitted in unclassified form but may contain a
classified annex.
(2) Public availability.--The unclassified portion of such
report shall be made available to the public and posted on
the website of the Department of the Treasury--
(A) in English, Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri; and
(B) in precompressed, easily downloadable versions that are
made available in all appropriate formats.
(d) Sources of Information.--In preparing a report
described under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury
may utilize any credible publication, database, web-based
resource, and any credible information compiled by any
government agency, nongovernmental organization, or other
entity provided to or made available to the Secretary.
(e) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee
on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the
Senate.
(2) Funds.--The term ``funds'' means--
(A) cash;
(B) equity;
(C) any other intangible asset whose value is derived from
a contractual claim, including bank deposits, bonds, stocks,
a security as defined in section 2(a) of the Securities Act
of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77b(a)), or a security or an equity
security as defined in section 3(a) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)); and
(D) anything else that the Secretary determines
appropriate.
The CHAIR. No amendment to the bill shall be in order except those
printed in House Report 114-778. Each such amendment may be offered
only in the order printed in the report, by a Member designated in the
report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time
specified in the report, equally divided and controlled by the
proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall
not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
Amendment No. 1 Offered by Mr. Poliquin
The CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 1 printed in
House Report 114-778.
Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
The CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 9, line 23, strike ``Committee on Financial Services''
and insert ``Committees on Financial Services and Foreign
Affairs''.
Page 9, line 24, strike ``Committee'' and insert
``Committees''.
Page 10, line 1, after ``Affairs'' insert the following:
``and Foreign Relations''.
The CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 876, the gentleman from Maine
(Mr. Poliquin) and a Member opposed each will control 5 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Maine.
Mr. POLIQUIN. Mr. Chairman, I rise to offer the Poliquin amendment to
the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act.
My amendment is very simple, Mr. Chairman. It adds the Committee on
Foreign Affairs to the reporting requirements in the bill.
Right now, the legislation requires the Department of Treasury to
provide a report to the House Financial Services Committee and the
Senate Banking Committee, the unclassified portion of which will be
posted for everyone to see on the U.S. Department of Treasury's Web
site. My amendment, Mr. Chairman, adds the House Committee on Foreign
Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Relations in the Senate as
appropriate congressional committees to receive the report.
It is a small adjustment to the bill, but a good one, as I think we
all benefit from the good work that Chairman Royce and his committee
has conducted with regard to the Iranian regime.
I urge support of this amendment and, once again, for the underlying
bill.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the gentleman
from Maine (Mr. Poliquin).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 2 Offered by Mr. Young of Indiana
The Acting CHAIR (Mr. Simpson). It is now in order to consider
amendment No. 2 printed in House Report 114-778.
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 7, line 7, strike ``and''.
Page 7, line 13, strike the period and insert a semicolon.
Page 7, after line 13, insert the following:
(5) recommendations for how U.S. economic sanctions against
Iran may be revised to prevent the funds or assets described
under this subsection from being used by the natural persons
described in subsection (b) to contribute to the continued
development, testing, and procurement of ballistic missile
technology by Iran;
(6) a description of how the Department of the Treasury
assesses the impact and effectiveness of U.S. economic
sanctions programs against Iran; and
(7) recommendations for improving the ability of the
Department of the Treasury to rapidly and effectively
develop, implement, and enforce additional economic sanctions
against Iran if so ordered by the President under the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act or other
corresponding legislation.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 876, the gentleman
from Indiana (Mr. Young) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Indiana.
[[Page H5754]]
{time} 1615
Mr. YOUNG of Indiana. Mr. Chairman, I rise in support of my amendment
to the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act.
I thank the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Poliquin) for his timely and
valuable bill.
Iran is a determined and treacherous enemy of the United States.
Despite the hopes of the Obama administration's following the adoption
of the JCPOA nuclear agreement, Iran has only escalated its aggressive
foreign policy over the past year. It has not locked arms agreeably
with the community of civilized nations.
While the Obama administration removed the sanctions related to
Iran's nuclear program following the adoption of the JCPOA, U.S.
sanctions remain in place against Iran in response to its state
sponsorship of terrorism, ballistic missile program, and human rights
violations.
Tracking and cataloging the assets and funds that are controlled by
the Iranian regime is a necessary step towards uncovering how Iran
continues to challenge and attempts to circumvent the U.S. sanctions
regime.
My amendment simply builds upon the excellent foundation laid out in
the underlying bill by expanding the scope of the reporting
requirements. These new components require Treasury to provide
recommendations for improving the U.S. sanctions regime against Iran
and a description of how Treasury assesses the impact and effectiveness
of U.S. sanctions.
The amendment will enhance the ability of Congress to assess and
exercise oversight over Iran policy. The expanding reporting
requirements will also contribute to the ability of Congress to ensure
that Iran policy is serving the national security interests of the
United States.
Iran's continued aggression threatens all Americans regardless of
one's political party. It is not partisan maneuvering for Congress to
require the Department of the Treasury to provide valuable information
to Congress on matters of great importance to our national security.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition
to this amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, the Young amendment
would add three additional requirements to the report that are called
for under the underlying bill, including a description of how the
administration views the effectiveness of its sanctions programs and
recommendations for improving their enforcement.
I believe it would be a strategic mistake to disclose to our
adversaries how we view the effectiveness of our sanctions programs and
would be imprudent to signal to them how we might respond or alter our
approach through the use of economic sanctions.
Furthermore, the amendment appears to be premised on the assumption
that the administration isn't already actively enforcing sanctions
related to Iran, particularly its pursuit of ballistic missile
technology. Ironically, the extensive reporting requirements on roughly
80 senior Iranian officers in the underlying bill would detract from
the administration's ability to implement the very sanctions that the
Young amendment seeks to embrace.
Given its false premise, the increased burden the amendment would
place on the Treasury Department, and the strategic folly of revealing
our strategy for using sanctions to rein in Iran's nefarious behavior,
I oppose the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I simply don't believe that these Members who are
engaging in this kind of activity really understand what they are
doing. I refer to it as folly, but it is worse than that. It is
weighing in on something they really don't know about. In doing so,
they don't recognize the damage they are doing to their own country and
to the President of the United States. I oppose this amendment.
I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Young).
The amendment was agreed to.
Amendment No. 3 Offered by Mr. Lance
The Acting CHAIR. It is now in order to consider amendment No. 3
printed in House Report 114-778.
Mr. LANCE. Mr. Chair, I have an amendment at the desk.
The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment.
The text of the amendment is as follows:
Page 8, after line 23, insert the following:
(21) The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to House Resolution 876, the gentleman
from New Jersey (Mr. Lance) and a Member opposed each will control 5
minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New Jersey.
Mr. LANCE. My thanks to Chairman Hensarling, and my thanks, as well,
to Congressman Poliquin for their tremendous leadership on this issue.
Mr. Chairman, this is not about the underlying Iranian nuclear
agreement, and nothing in this amendment and nothing in the Poliquin
bill will change that agreement. Obviously, there is significant debate
about the underlying agreement. I am a strong opponent of that, as was
the majority here in the House of Representatives. Unfortunately, the
other Chamber never voted on the issue because we could not reach a
conclusion of debate on that issue.
On this amendment, it is in our national security interest to be
scrutinizing the assets that are held by senior Iranian political and
military leaders so that we might know how those assets were acquired
and how they are being spent. This amendment would add the name of the
head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, a position currently
held by Ali Akbar Salehi, to a list of Iranian leaders who are named in
this legislation.
Given Iran's known desire for a nuclear weapons program and its clear
ties to international terror, we should be monitoring the finances of
the head of its nuclear program regardless of who he is. For years, the
Iranian regime has been mired in institutionalized corruption; and the
nexus of nuclear weapons, state-sponsored terrorism, money laundering,
secret financial agreements, and mass pilfering from the Iranian people
is cause for great alarm.
Mr. Chairman, we need all of the tools at our disposal. Let's add the
head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to this legislation, and
let's have the U.S. Treasury do all it can to investigate the finances
of this regime.
Mr. Chairman, I urge a ``yes'' vote on the amendment I am offering,
and I certainly urge a ``yes'' vote on the underlying legislation that
has been sponsored by Congressman Poliquin.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise in opposition
to the amendment.
The Acting CHAIR. The gentlewoman is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. MAXINE WATERS of California. Mr. Chairman, I really should not
spend my time on this. This is kind of ridiculous that this long list
we have of which they want to find out about the assets--where they
came from, how they are managed, who they give them to, et cetera--is
kind of senseless anyway because, even if the Treasury Department took
all of this time and effort that it should be using on enforcing
sanctions, et cetera, it would be classified. I don't know how they
expect to get this to the Iranian people to view as they are trying to
have them think that they can somehow undermine what their government
is doing and, I guess, create a war between Iran and the United States.
I don't know what they are doing, but I know this--it doesn't make
good sense. It ties up the Treasury Department to do all of this
useless stuff. And to have a list where you spend time on the floor of
the United States Congress saying, I want to add one more name--give me
a break. I oppose the amendment.
Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.
The Acting CHAIR. The question is on the amendment offered by the
gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Lance).
The amendment was agreed to.
The Acting CHAIR. There being no further amendment, under the rule,
the Committee rises.
Accordingly, the Committee rose; and the Speaker pro tempore (Mr.
Chabot) having assumed the chair, Mr.
[[Page H5755]]
Simpson, Acting Chair of the Committee of the Whole House on the state
of the Union, reported that that Committee, having had under
consideration the bill (H.R. 5461) to require the Secretary of the
Treasury to submit a report to the appropriate congressional committees
on the estimated total assets under direct or indirect control by
certain senior Iranian leaders and other figures, and for other
purposes, and, pursuant to House Resolution 876, he reported the bill
back to the House with sundry amendments adopted in the Committee of
the Whole.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the rule, the previous question is
ordered.
Is a separate vote demanded on any amendment reported from the
Committee of the Whole? If not, the Chair will put them en gros.
The amendments were agreed to.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the engrossment and third
reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that
the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. HENSARLING. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further
proceedings on this question will be postponed.
____________________