[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 101 (Wednesday, June 14, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3494]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SA 239. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill S. 722, to impose sanctions with respect to Iran in
relation to Iran's ballistic missile program, support for acts of
international terrorism, and violations of human rights, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
On page 43, between lines 19 and 20, insert the following:
SEC. 9. REPORT ON USE BY THE GOVERNMENT OF IRAN OF COMMERCIAL
AIRCRAFT AND RELATED SERVICES FOR ILLICIT
MILITARY OR OTHER ACTIVITIES.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) Iran is designated as the world's foremost state
sponsor of terrorism and a direct threat to the national
security of the United States and United States allies.
(2) Iran, through its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (in
this section referred to as the ``IRGC''), provides material
and financial support to foreign terrorist organizations,
including Hamas, Hezbollah, and Kata'ib Hezbollah, as well as
to the regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, which is
responsible for more than 400,000 civilian deaths.
(3) Iran has systematically employed its national air
carrier, Iran Air, as well as numerous private and publicly
owned Iranian and Syrian air carriers, including Mahan Air,
to ferry weapons, troops, and military equipment on behalf of
the IRGC and Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces
Logistics (in this section referred to as ``MODAFL'') to
foreign terrorist organizations and rogue regimes around the
world.
(4) On June 23, 2011, the United States Department of the
Treasury designated Iran Air for the imposition of sanctions
pursuant to Executive Order 13382 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note;
relating to blocking property of weapons of mass destruction
delivery system proliferators and their supporters) for
providing material support and services to the IRGC,
including shipping military-related equipment on behalf of
the IRGC since 2006 and transporting rockets or missiles to
Syria.
(5) On January 16, 2016, Iran Air was removed from the list
of specially designated nationals and blocked persons by the
Department of the Treasury even though Iran Air had not
ceased its illicit and sanctionable activity.
(6) Iran Air remains owned and operated by the Government
of Iran and has, since January 16, 2016, flown numerous
unscheduled flights on well-known weapons supply routes
between Iran and Syria.
(7) In correspondence with Members of Congress, the
Secretary of the Treasury has refused to confirm that Iran
Air has ceased its illicit activity. In a November 23, 2016,
letter to Representative Peter Roskam, Thomas Patrick
Maloney, Senior Advisor in the Office of Legislative Affairs
of the Department of the Treasury wrote: ``The United States
retains the ability to designate any individual or entity
that engages in sanctionable activities under our authorities
targeting conduct outside the scope of the JCPOA, including
Iran's support for terrorism, human rights abuses, ballistic
missile program, and other destabilizing activities in the
region.''.
(8) Evidence supports that, despite being removed from the
list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons on
January 16, 2016, Iran Air has continued its illicit and
sanctionable activity in support of the IRGC, MODAFL,
Hezbollah, and the Bashar al-Assad regime since January 16,
2016.
(b) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, and every 180 days thereafter, the
President, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense, the
Secretary of State, and the Director of National
Intelligence, shall submit to the appropriate congressional
committees a report on use by the Government of Iran of
commercial aircraft and related services for illicit military
or other activities during--
(1) in the case of the first report, the 5-year period
preceding submission of the report; and
(2) in the case of any subsequent report, the 180-day
period preceding submission of the report.
(c) Elements of Report.--The report required under
subsection (b) shall include a description of the extent to
which--
(1) the Government of Iran has used commercial aircraft,
including aircraft of Iran Air, or related services to
transport illicit cargo to or from Iran, including military
goods, weapons, military personnel, military-related
electronic parts and mechanical equipment, or rocket or
missile components;
(2) the commercial aviation sector of Iran, including Iran
Air, has provided financial, material, or technological
support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran's
Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, the regime of
Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, Kata'ib
Hezbollah, any other organization designated as a foreign
terrorist organization under section 219 of the Immigration
and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189), or any person on the
list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons
maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the
Department of the Treasury; and
(3) foreign governments and persons have facilitated the
activities described in paragraph (1), including allowing the
use of airports, services, or other resources.
(d) Effect of Determination.--If, in a report submitted
under this section, the President determines that Iran Air or
any other Iranian commercial air carrier has used commercial
aircraft for illicit military purposes on or after January
16, 2016, the President shall, not later than 90 days after
making that determination, include the air carrier on the
list of specially designated nationals and blocked persons
maintained by the Office of Foreign Assets Control of the
Department of the Treasury.
(e) Appropriate Congressional Committees Defined.--In this
section, the term ``appropriate congressional committees''
means--
(1) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Relations, and the Select Committee on Intelligence
of the Senate; and
(2) the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on
Foreign Affairs, and the Permanent Select Committee on
Intelligence of the House of Representatives.
(f) Sunset.--This section shall cease to be effective on
the date that is 30 days after the date on which the
President certifies to Congress that the Government of Iran
has ceased providing support for acts of international
terrorism.
______