[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 144 (Thursday, September 22, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         H.R. 5461 & H.R. 5931

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN

                              of maryland

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 22, 2016

  Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise regarding H.R. 5461, the Iranian 
Leadership Asset Transparency Act and H.R. 5931, the misleadingly named 
Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act.
  Regional stability in the Middle East and ensuring that Iran is 
prevented from acquiring a nuclear weapon are top national security 
priorities of the United States and they are the reasons that, after 
very careful consideration, I chose to support the JCPOA. That 
agreement has already dramatically reduced Iran's stockpile of enriched 
nuclear material and subjects the country to a strenuous verification 
regime. For all these reasons, I will support the Iranian Leadership 
Asset Transparency Act and oppose H.R. 5931.
  Iran's hugely wealthy and powerful Revolutionary Guard has been 
identified by leading international institutions, including the State 
Department, as a driving force behind Iran's sponsorship of terrorism 
around the world. The Los Angeles Times estimated in 2007 that the 
IRGC, which was tasked with rebuilding the country after the Iran-Iraq 
War, ``now has ties to more than one hundred companies that control 
roughly $12 billion in construction and engineering capital.'' In a 
2012 country report on terrorism, the State Department noted ``a marked 
resurgence of Iran's state sponsorship of terrorism, through its 
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps--Quds Force, its Ministry of 
Intelligence and Security, and Tehran's ally Hezbollah.''
  H.R. 5461 will help illuminate the IRGC's control of a wide array of 
Iran's assets. The Treasury Secretary will be required to develop and 
post online in English, and the three main languages used in that 
country, a list of assets held by Iran's political and military 
leaders. The list will include a description of how these assets were 
acquired and how they have been employed. The bill will not only help 
make Iran's citizens more aware of how corrupt their government is, the 
reporting requirements may help to shed additional light on the ways 
Iran's Revolutionary Guard funds terrorism.
  By contrast, H.R. 5931 would provide Iran with an excuse to abandon 
its JCPOA obligations and resume its nuclear enrichment activities. The 
bill purports to codify the long held position of the U.S. not to pay 
ransoms to terrorists, but the bill is much more than that. H.R. 5931 
would prohibit the U.S. Government from making cash payments of any 
kind to Iran, even ones the U.S. is legally obligated to make. The most 
recent payment made to Iran by the U.S., for example, was owed to it as 
a result of a weapons sale that occurred in the days before the 
revolution. The U.S. was certainly not going to fulfill this obligation 
by sending Iran weapons, so the U.S. agreed to fulfill the contract 
instead with cash. Additionally, because the U.S. is a signatory to the 
Algiers Accords, there will be more payments in the future. Under that 
agreement, the U.S. is legally obligated to comply with the 
determinations of the Iran/U.S. Claims Tribunal. The recent payment 
made to Iran was a part of the settlement reached by that body. There 
are over a thousand more claims pending before the Tribunal.
  The JCPOA is not based on trust. It is based on verification. 
According to the IAEA, Iran has, so far, complied with its obligations 
under the JCPOA. Faithfully observing the obligations of that 
agreement, especially the verification protocols, are in the national 
security interest of the United States and we must avoid providing the 
Iranians with an excuse not to uphold their side of the bargain. For 
that reason, I cannot support this bill.

                          ____________________