[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 134 (Wednesday, September 7, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1203]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MEDIA DOWNPLAYS ``RANSOM PAYMENT'' TO IRAN

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                            HON. LAMAR SMITH

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 7, 2016

  Mr. SMITH of Texas.  Mr. Speaker, last month the Wall Street Journal 
reported that the Obama administration secretly sent $400 million in 
cash to Iran on the same day four American hostages detained in Tehran 
were released.
  The president should admit that the ransom payment to the world's 
leading state sponsor of terrorism was bad policy and endangers the 
lives of Americans at home and abroad.
  The spokesman for the State Department even admitted that the payment 
was ``leverage,'' which sounds like he's trying to find a nice word for 
``ransom.''
  The media also has not been forthcoming. The Media Research Center 
found that the Big Three networks devoted ten times more coverage to 
Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte's alleged robbery in Brazil than to the 
$400 million cash payment to Iran.
  It's not a surprise why three-quarters of Americans feel the news 
media are biased in their reporting.

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