[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 69 (Friday, April 19, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E372-E373]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 NO U.S. FINANCING FOR IRAN ACT OF 2023

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. VAL T. HOYLE

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 15, 2024

  Ms. HOYLE of Oregon. Mr. Speaker, on Monday, April 15, I will vote No 
on H.R. 5921, the No Financing for Iran Act. While I agree with the 
bill's stated goal of preventing the Iranian government from accessing 
the U.S. financial system, the bill goes much further than that and has 
several issues.
  Unfortunately, H.R. 5921 as written would likely inflict significant 
harm on small businesses in Oregon and across the country. The bill 
includes provisions to prevent the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Exlm 
Bank) from financing projects associated with Iran's government. 
However, under current U.S. policy, Exlm is already prohibited from 
doing business with the government of Iran and Iran-related sanctioned 
persons (as are all U.S. government entities and U.S. persons).
  As Ranking Member Waters has noted, H.R. 5921's duplicative 
provisions will impose overly burdensome requirements on the Exlm Bank, 
which would dramatically increase the cost, processing time, and 
resources needed to review transactions and help American small 
businesses. The bill would also put American small businesses at a 
disadvantage to foreign competitors when exporting their goods abroad.
  Given my own work with the Exlm Bank before holding elected office, I 
know how reliant small businesses engaging in international trade in 
Oregon and across the country are on the services provided. I cannot 
support legislation that undermines the Exlm Bank's ability to serve 
American businesses.
  In addition, the bill seeks to prevent Iran from accessing Special 
Drawing Rights (SDRs)--an international reserve asset that many 
developing countries around the world rely on--through the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, Iran is already prevented 
from having access to SDRs thanks to current U.S. sanctions, meaning 
this bill is unnecessary.
  In practice, the bill would actually prevent increases of SDRs to all 
countries. This is because the IMF process for approving SDR 
distributions is a simple up-or-down vote on whether there should be a 
distribution of SDRs to all IMF member countries--there is no avenue at 
the IMF for SDR votes on individual member countries. As a result, this 
bill would likely cause significant hardship for many developing IMF 
member countries around the world.
  The U.S. Treasury Department is also opposed to these provisions, 
stating that this bill would deny the IMF and U.S. Treasury ``a tool 
for promptly responding to global economic crises and preventing 
spillovers to the U.S. economy.''

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