[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 180 (Wednesday, November 1, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H5193-H5197]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  STOP HARBORING IRANIAN PETROLEUM ACT

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the 
bill (H.R. 3774) to impose additional sanctions with respect to the 
importation or facilitation of the importation of petroleum products 
from Iran, and for other purposes, as amended.
  The Clerk read the title of the bill.
  The text of the bill is as follows:

                               H.R. 3774

       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 ``Stop Harboring Iranian 
     Petroleum Act'' or the ``SHIP Act''.

     SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

       It is the policy of the United States--
       (1) to deny Iran the ability, by limiting Iran's export of 
     petroleum and petroleum products, to--

[[Page H5194]]

       (A) engage in destabilizing activities;
       (B) support international terrorism; or
       (C) fund the development and acquisition of weapons of mass 
     destruction and weapons delivery systems;
       (2) to deny Iran funds to oppress and commit human rights 
     violations against the Iranian people assembling to 
     peacefully redress the Iranian regime;
       (3) to fully enforce sanctions against those entities which 
     provide support to the Iranian energy sector; and
       (4) to counter Iran's actions to finance and facilitate the 
     participation of foreign terrorist organizations in ongoing 
     conflicts and illicit activities due to the threat such 
     actions pose to the vital national interests of the United 
     States.

     SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRANIAN 
                   PETROLEUM.

       (a) In General.--On and after the date that is 90 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, and except as 
     provided in subsection (e)(2), the President shall impose the 
     sanctions described in subsection (c) with respect to each 
     foreign person that the President determines, on or after 
     such date of enactment, engages in an activity described in 
     subsection (b).
       (b) Activities Described.--A foreign person engages in an 
     activity described in this subsection if the foreign person--
       (1) owns or operates a foreign port and has knowingly 
     facilitated or accommodated at least 1 designated vessel in 
     landing at such port on or after the date of enactment of 
     this Act for the purpose of transporting Iranian crude oil;
       (2) knowingly transports, offloads, or otherwise engages in 
     transactions involving petroleum or petroleum products, 
     including petrochemicals, originating from Iran;
       (3) knowingly owns or operates a vessel used to conduct 
     ship-to-ship transfers of petroleum or petroleum products, 
     including petrochemicals, originating from Iran;
       (4) owns or operates a refinery that knowingly processes, 
     refines, or otherwise engages in transactions involving 
     petroleum or petroleum products, including petrochemicals, 
     originating from Iran;
       (5) is an adult family member of a foreign person described 
     in any of paragraphs (1) through (4), unless the President 
     determines there is clear and convincing evidence that such 
     adult family member has disassociated themselves from the 
     foreign person described in such paragraph and has not 
     assisted such foreign person in concealing assets; or
       (6) is owned, as such term is defined by section 510.411 of 
     title 31, Code of Federal Regulations, by a foreign person 
     described in any of paragraphs (1) through (5) that has been 
     designated for such conduct.
       (c) Sanctions Described.--The sanctions described in this 
     subsection with respect to a foreign person described in 
     subsection (a) are the following:
       (1) Blocking of property.--The President shall exercise all 
     of the powers granted to the President under the 
     International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 
     et seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all 
     transactions in property and interests in property of the 
     foreign person if such property and interests in property are 
     in the United States, come within the United States, or are 
     or come within the possession or control of a United States 
     person.
       (2) Ineligibility for visas, admission, or parole.--
       (A) Visas, admission, or parole.--An alien described in 
     subsection (a) is--
       (i) inadmissible to the United States;
       (ii) ineligible to receive a visa or other documentation to 
     enter the United States; and
       (iii) otherwise ineligible to be admitted or paroled into 
     the United States or to receive any other benefit under the 
     Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et seq.).
       (B) Current visas revoked.--
       (i) In general.--An alien described in subsection (a) is 
     subject to revocation of any visa or other entry 
     documentation regardless of when the visa or other entry 
     documentation is or was issued.
       (ii) Immediate effect.--A revocation under clause (i) shall 
     take effect immediately and automatically cancel any other 
     valid visa or entry documentation that is in the alien's 
     possession.
       (C) Exceptions.--Sanctions under this paragraph shall not 
     apply with respect to an alien if admitting or paroling the 
     alien into the United States is necessary--
       (i) to permit the United States to comply with the 
     Agreement regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, 
     signed at Lake Success June 26, 1947, and entered into force 
     November 21, 1947, between the United Nations and the United 
     States, or other applicable international obligations; or
       (ii) to carry out or assist law enforcement activity in the 
     United States.
       (3) Penalties.--The penalties provided for in subsections 
     (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International Emergency 
     Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall apply to a person 
     that violates, attempts to violate, conspires to violate, or 
     causes a violation of this section or any regulations 
     promulgated to carry out this section to the same extent that 
     such penalties apply to a person that commits an unlawful act 
     described in section 206(a) of that Act.
       (d) Rule of Construction.--For purposes of determinations 
     under subsection (a) that a foreign person engaged in 
     activities described in subsection (b), a foreign person 
     shall not be determined to know that petroleum or petroleum 
     products originated from Iran if such person relied on a 
     certificate of origin or other documentation confirming that 
     the origin of the petroleum or petroleum products was a 
     country other than Iran, unless such person knew or had 
     reason to know that such documentation was falsified.
       (e) Implementation; Regulations.--
       (1) In general.--The President may exercise all authorities 
     under sections 203 and 205 of the International Emergency 
     Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702 and 1704) for purposes of 
     carrying out this section.
       (2) Deadline for regulations.--Not later than 180 days 
     after the date of the enactment of this Act, the President 
     shall prescribe such regulations as may be necessary for the 
     implementation of this Act.
       (3) Notification to congress.--Not later than 10 days 
     before the prescription of regulations under paragraph (2), 
     the President shall brief and provide written notification to 
     the appropriate congressional committees regarding--
       (A) the proposed regulations; and
       (B) the specific provisions of this Act that the 
     regulations are implementing.
       (f) Waiver.--
       (1) In general.--The President may, on a case-by-case basis 
     and for periods not to exceed 180 days each, waive the 
     application of sanctions imposed with respect to a foreign 
     person under this section if the President certifies to the 
     appropriate congressional committees, not later than 15 days 
     before such waiver is to take effect, that the waiver is 
     vital to the national interests of the United States.
       (2) Special rule.--The President shall not be required to 
     impose sanctions under this section with respect to a foreign 
     person described in subsection (a) if the President certifies 
     in writing to the appropriate congressional committees that 
     the foreign person--
       (A) is no longer engaging in activities described in 
     subsection (b); or
       (B) has taken and is continuing to take significant, 
     verifiable steps toward permanently terminating such 
     activities.
       (f) Termination.--The authorities provided by this section 
     shall cease to have effect on and after the date that is 30 
     days after the date on which the President certifies to the 
     appropriate congressional committees that--
       (1) the Government of Iran no longer repeatedly provides 
     support for international terrorism as determined by the 
     Secretary of State pursuant to--
       (A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export Control Reform Act 
     of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4318(c)(1)(A));
       (B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 
     U.S.C. 2371);
       (C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. 
     2780); or
       (D) any other provision of law; and
       (2) Iran has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and 
     development of, and verifiably dismantled, its nuclear, 
     biological, and chemical weapons, ballistic missiles, and 
     ballistic missile launch technology.

     SEC. 4. REPORT ON IRANIAN PETROLEUM AND PETROLEUM PRODUCTS 
                   EXPORTS.

       (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of 
     enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until the date 
     described in subsection (d), the Administrator of the Energy 
     Information Administration shall submit to the appropriate 
     congressional committees a report describing Iran's growing 
     exports of petroleum and petroleum products, that includes 
     the following:
       (1) An analysis of Iran's exports and sale of petroleum and 
     petroleum products, including--
       (A) an estimate of Iran's petroleum export and sale revenue 
     per year since 2018;
       (B) an estimate of Iran's petroleum export and sale revenue 
     to China per year since 2018;
       (C) the amount of petroleum and crude oil barrels exported 
     per year since 2018;
       (D) the amount of petroleum and crude oil barrels exported 
     to China per year since 2018;
       (E) the amount of petroleum and crude oil barrels exported 
     to countries other than China per year since 2018;
       (F) the average price per petroleum and crude oil barrel 
     exported per year since 2018; and
       (G) the average price per petroleum and crude oil barrel 
     exported to China per year since 2018.
       (2) An analysis of Iran's labeling practices of exported 
     petroleum and petroleum products.
       (3) A description of companies involved in the exporting 
     and sale of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products.
       (4) A description of ships involved in the exporting and 
     sale of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products.
       (5) A description of ports involved in the exporting and 
     sale of Iranian petroleum and petroleum products.
       (b) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be 
     submitted in unclassified form but may include a classified 
     annex.
       (c) Publication.--The unclassified portion of the report 
     required by subsection (a) shall be posted on a publicly 
     available website of the Energy Information Administration.
       (d) Termination.--The requirement to submit reports under 
     this section shall be terminated on the date on which the 
     President makes the certification described in section 3(f).

     SEC. 5. EXCEPTION RELATING TO IMPORTATION OF GOODS.

       (a) In General.--The authorities and requirements to impose 
     sanctions authorized under this Act shall not include the 
     authority or requirement to impose sanctions on the 
     importation of goods.

[[Page H5195]]

       (b) Good Defined.--In this section, the term ``good'' means 
     any article, natural or man-made substance, material, supply 
     or manufactured product, including inspection and test 
     equipment, and excluding technical data.

     SEC. 6. APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES DEFINED.

       In this Act, the term ``appropriate congressional 
     committees'' means--
       (1) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Committee on the 
     Judiciary, and the Committee on Financial Services of the 
     House of Representatives; and
       (2) the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Committee on 
     the Judiciary, and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
     Urban Affairs of the Senate.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from New 
York (Mr. Lawler) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Schneider) each 
will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from New York.


                             General Leave

  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may 
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and 
include extraneous material on this measure.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to be here today as we gather to pass the 
Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act, or the SHIP Act, which I 
introduced earlier this year with my colleague from Florida, 
Congressman Jared Moskowitz.
  In the wake of the appalling terrorist attacks against Israel on 
October 7, it is clear that we must work to confront Iran and its 
proxies in the region with a strong sanctions regime. Iran is the 
largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world and, unfortunately, has 
the coffers to back this up. Iran spends its money on terror, on 
developing nuclear capabilities, on taking hostages to use for 
bargaining purposes, and on funding the criminal IRGC.
  We must cut off Iran's funding and stop these illicit activities at 
their source, and that is where Iranian oil comes in.
  Iran currently engages in a massive global oil trade, exporting its 
blood-stained petroleum in exchange for money and influence abroad. In 
the past year alone, Iran has made tens of billions off of their 
illicit oil trade, and this August, China imported a staggering 1.5 
million barrels per day.
  China is the largest importer of Iranian oil and, in doing so, has 
become complicit in the nefarious acts carried out with that funding. 
While the U.S. already sanctions Iranian petroleum, it is absolutely 
critical that we expand our sanctions regime to not only target Iran 
but Iran's enablers that are complicit in the nefarious acts committed 
with that money.
  The SHIP Act specifically expands these sanctions to cover foreign 
ports and refineries that process Iranian oil. Individuals and entities 
that knowingly accept shipments of Iranian oil, refine Iranian oil, 
transport or offload Iranian oil, or otherwise transact with Iranian 
oil should be held accountable for their actions, for their willingness 
to pay for Iranian-backed terrorism.
  The SHIP Act has been bipartisan from the start and continues to show 
a united front between Republicans and Democrats to limit Iran's global 
influence and protect those the Iranian regime seeks to harm, such as 
our Jewish and Israeli friends.
  The SHIP Act sends a message to those who trade in Iranian oil that 
they will have the United States to deal with if they continue to do 
so. They can't pretend they don't know where the money is going. They 
can't pretend to separate Iranian oil from the very terrorism it 
supports. Now, we are putting it in writing that they are going to be 
held accountable if they keep enabling Iran.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge all of my colleagues to support H.R. 3774, and I 
reserve the balance of my time.

                                         House of Representatives,


                                   Committee on the Judiciary,

                                 Washington, DC, October 26, 2023.
     Hon. Michael McCaul,
     Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of 
         Representatives, Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman McCaul: I write regarding H.R. 3774, the Stop 
     Harboring Iranian Petroleum Act. Provisions of this bill fall 
     within the Judiciary Committee's Rule X jurisdiction, and I 
     appreciate that you consulted with us on those provisions. 
     The Judiciary Committee agrees that it shall be discharged 
     from further consideration of the bill so that it may proceed 
     expeditiously to the House floor.
       The Committee takes this action with the understanding that 
     forgoing further consideration of this measure does not in 
     any way alter the Committee's jurisdiction or waive any 
     future jurisdictional claim over these provisions or their 
     subject matter. We also reserve the right to seek appointment 
     of an appropriate number of conferees in the event of a 
     conference with the Senate involving this measure or similar 
     legislation.
       I ask that you please include this letter in your 
     committee's report to accompany this legislation or insert 
     this letter in the Congressional Record during consideration 
     of H.R. 3774 on the House floor. I appreciate the cooperative 
     manner in which our committees have worked on this matter, 
     and I look forward to working collaboratively in the future 
     on matters of shared jurisdiction. Thank you for your 
     attention to this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Jim Jordan,
                                                         Chairman.


 =========================== NOTE =========================== 

  
  On November 1, 2023, page H5195, in the second column, the 
following appeared: Thank you for your attention to this matter. 
Sincerely, Jim Joredan, Chairman.
  
  The online version has been corrected to read: Thank you for 
your attention to this matter. Sincerely, Jim Jordan, Chairman.


 ========================= END NOTE ========================= 



                                  ____
                                         House of Representatives,


                                 Committee on Foreign Affairs,

                                 Washington, DC, October 31, 2023.
     Hon. Jim Jordan,
     Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Chairman Jordan: Thank you for consulting with the 
     Foreign Affairs Committee and agreeing to be discharged from 
     further consideration of H.R. 3774, the ``Stop Harboring 
     Iranian Petroleum Act,'' so that the measure may proceed 
     expeditiously to the House floor.
       I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure 
     does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of 
     your committee, or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives 
     on this measure or similar legislation in the future. I would 
     support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate 
     number of conferees from your committee to any House-Senate 
     conference on this legislation.
       I will seek to place our letters on this bill into the 
     Congressional Record during floor consideration. I appreciate 
     your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward 
     to continuing to work together as this measure moves through 
     the legislative process.
           Sincerely,
                                                Michael T. McCaul,
                                                         Chairman.

  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 3774.
  The goal of this legislation is simple: to prevent Iran from 
profiting off of its petroleum reserves.
  The tyrannical Iranian regime uses these profits to fund its 
terrorism and proxy activities, as well as to make advancements in its 
nuclear program.
  The SHIP Act aims to apply unilateral, mandatory sanctions on anyone 
who does any of the following with Iranian oil: operate a port that 
accepts or transfers the oil; operate a refinery that possesses Iranian 
oil; run a business that purchases, sells, or finances Iranian oil; 
ships Iranian oil; or knowingly works at any facility that handles 
Iranian oil.
  Without a doubt, the target of these sanctions is China, the largest 
purchaser of Iranian oil. If China stopped buying oil from Iran, Iran 
would be starved of the funds it uses to destabilize its region and the 
world.
  This is not something we can achieve overnight without impacting the 
global energy and shipping economy. In today's interconnected world, 
where China is a major player and a trading partner of the United 
States, we cannot be shielded from the economic impacts these sanctions 
might cause. That is why if this legislation is signed into law, we 
must be both smart and forceful during its implementation, and we must 
be honest with the American people about why we are willing and why we 
must take this risk.
  Sanctions are a diplomatic tool. They are not an end in themselves. 
The bold petroleum and financial sanctions that drove Iran to the table 
to negotiate JCPOA were multilateral, and we did the hard work of 
uniting the world behind the policy before the implementation of those 
sanctions.
  As it stands today, we would be going at this policy alone. That is 
why Congress should work with this and any future administration to do 
the hard diplomatic work of bringing allies and partners into the plan. 
That is what will ultimately increase our chances of succeeding.

                              {time}  1500

  While I am a proud cosponsor of this bill, I am also concerned by the 
very

[[Page H5196]]

limited flexibility the administration would have with the waiver in 
this bill. It is one of the strictest standards that can be found in 
law. I am open to addressing that aspect of the bill if this measure 
goes to conference with the Senate to ensure that the waiver provision 
isn't virtually unusable.
  Due to the clear and present threat posed by Iran to the United 
States and our allies, I believe we must use every tool at our disposal 
to address the challenge. The new sanctions offered by the SHIP Act 
provide important tools in our toolbox that could end Chinese purchases 
of oil.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from 
Arkansas (Mr. Hill), a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
  Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend from New York for managing 
the time and my friend from Illinois on this very important bill.
  I am so glad to see that it is a bipartisan effort on H.R. 3774, the 
SHIP Act, because this bill is critical to countering the long record 
of continued mistakes by President Biden of appeasing the regime in 
Iran.
  The Biden administration continues a foreign policy offering carrots 
to the world's number one state sponsor of terrorism and getting 
nothing to show for it in return. Due to this administration's 
appeasement through sanctions relief, Iran's oil production is now 
backed up at a 5-year high and is estimated to be producing 1.5 million 
barrels a day, and that is worth, Mr. Speaker, $40 billion annualized.
  Now, nearly all of that is being sold to China, completely as a 
counter to the rest of the world's effort to cut off money going to 
Russia directly through Russian oil and indirectly through Iran backing 
Russia--these are leaked; Iran backing Hezbollah in Lebanon; Iran 
backing Syria and Assad; Iran backing Hamas in the Gaza.
  Are you getting the picture?
  Iran is the problem here, Mr. Speaker--a partner to Russia fighting 
Ukraine, a partner in defeating Israel through Gaza. It is because they 
are selling oil on the market against global sanctions.
  This bill is important. It goes far beyond the administration's $6 
billion of sanction relief to return Americans.
  Secondary sanctions are essential, and America's diplomacy, as Mr. 
Schneider from Illinois said, to get Europe on board with secondary 
sanctions is important too, because it is about defeating this global 
network of evil: Russia, Iran, and China.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bill.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to close, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, I do want to reflect on the comments of 
my friend, Mr. Hill, because he brings up a really important point.
  It is vitally important to understand that Iran connects a lot of 
dots:
  Iran is funding Hamas that attacked Israel and massacred 1,400 people 
and took 240 hostages, including Americans.
  Iran is providing weapons to Russia in their attack on Ukraine.
  Iran is selling oil to China.
  The war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine have a lot of common 
denominators. Both are wars against democracies with the intent of 
wiping out those democracies, but no intent, either with Putin in 
Russia or Hamas against Israel, in stopping there.
  The United States has an important role in leading and bringing 
together the world to support our allies in Ukraine and Israel. That is 
why it is so important that, as we stand here in a most perilous time, 
we unite as a body in this Congress to support our allies, not to 
divide, not to use political gamesmanship to use Israel as a partisan 
wedge, but to say we will stand together and support our allies. That 
is why I call our folks to come to this body and support the 
President's supplemental request.
  Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAWLER. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Florida (Mr. 
Mast), chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Accountability.
  Mr. MAST. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to rise in support and say thank 
you for the great work on this piece of legislation.
  It is very important, as both sides have spoken about, the idea if 
you were to make a comparison, such as if a farmer had to be sanctioned 
but we were thinking about sanctioning the farmer without sanctioning 
their crops, or the truck that they would use to transport them, or the 
dock workers, or the market that they would bring the crops to, it 
would be nonsensical. This is essentially the situation that we have 
going on between Iran, China, Russia, an entire axis of evil, that they 
are getting their crops to market.
  In my opinion, it is one of the most important things that we can 
work to prevent in order to have the greatest impact on Iran and their 
ability to finance terror across the globe.
  In that, I thank the gentleman for his work and for yielding me the 
time.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the right to close, and I reserve 
the balance of my time.
  Mr. SCHNEIDER. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 3774 is an important effort to cut 
funding off from the Iranian regime. I strongly urge my colleagues to 
support this measure.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  Mr. LAWLER. Mr. Speaker, I introduced this bill earlier this year 
with Congressman Jared Moskowitz of Florida. It has over 230 bipartisan 
cosponsors because Congress recognizes the need to sanction Iranian 
petroleum even further.
  Since President Biden took office, relaxed enforcement of oil 
sanctions has contributed to increased Iranian oil revenues worth 
approximately $25.9 billion.
  In 2019, Iran's oil exports fell below 500,000 barrels per day as a 
result of the prior administration's oil sanctions pressure.
  As of September 2023, Iranian oil exports had increased to nearly 1.5 
million barrels per day. Most of these increased sales have gone to 
Chinese buyers.
  Exports are up 59 percent since January of 2021. The administration's 
refusal to list entities enabling the trade for secondary sanctions--in 
other words, imposing sanctions on the buyers--has contributed to this.
  I wish we didn't need to do this, but we have to. HSI and OFAC should 
be enforcing these sanctions.
  On October 11, 2023, NSC Coordinator for Strategic Communications, 
John Kirby, responded to a question about the weak enforcement of 
sanctions on Iranian oil by stating, quote, ``The President has been 
concerned about making sure we have a viable global market for oil, 
working hard to keep the prices of gasoline down here in the United 
States. Part of that is making sure you remove some of the volatility 
in that global supply and demand.''
  Are you kidding me? First of all, the United States doesn't get 
Iranian petroleum. Our refineries aren't able to process it, and we 
already have sanctions in place against it. This administration has 
prohibited U.S. oil and gas development more strenuously than it has 
Iranian. It is absurd.
  Macquarie, a leading financial services advisory firm, recently 
advised its clients that: ``In our assessment, the Biden 
administration's policy approach has been to limit oil supply 
disruptions, regardless of the situation. Given that policy objectives 
did not target Russian oil flows even at the height of the Russian-
Ukraine conflict, we do not expect Iranian oil exports to be 
constrained either.''
  Now, there are Members of this body that are going to oppose this 
legislation because it is too strenuous, doesn't give enough wiggle 
room to the administration. There is a reason we are not giving wiggle 
room to the administration. It is because they have been incapable of 
enforcing the sanctions against Iran and Iranian petroleum, which has 
been used as the funding source for the greatest state sponsor of 
terrorism in the world.
  Lest anyone think otherwise, the attacks by Hamas, by Hezbollah over 
the course of time have been funded by Iran. We must be stringent in 
enforcing these sanctions. It is critically important.
  When you look at what is happening in the world and the unholy 
alliance that has been brought about by Iran, North Korea, China, and 
Russia to undermine and destabilize the free world,

[[Page H5197]]

to undermine the United States and our allies, we must enforce these 
sanctions, which is why it is critically important that we pass H.R. 
3774 so that we can enact sanctions on the buyer.
  China has been the largest buyer of Iranian petroleum. Their 
refineries are built to refine that oil. Our allies around the world 
must recognize and understand the threats that are emanating from this 
unholy alliance.
  I urge all of my colleagues in both parties to support this 
bipartisan, commonsense legislation.
  Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Lawler) that the House suspend the rules 
and pass the bill, H.R. 3774, as amended.
  The question was taken.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds 
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
  Mr. LAWLER. 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 motion will be postponed.

                          ____________________