[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 208 (Wednesday, December 10, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8605-S8606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                  Unanimous Consent Request--H.R. 260

  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, today, myself and my distinguished 
colleague from Montana, Senator Sheehy, rise in support of what is 
perhaps the most commonsense national security legislation that has 
come across the Senate floor this year.
  The No Tax Dollars for Terrorists Act will help to prevent even one 
American dollar from going to terrorist organizations like the Taliban.
  American military personnel spent years fighting the Taliban. Over 
2,000 Americans were killed in Afghanistan, and more than 20,000 were 
wounded. It is a slap on the face of these veterans and their families 
if even one taxpayer dollar would flow to this organization.
  We need to know that the NGOs and the foreign nations that aid is 
provided to do not pass those dollars to the very organizations that 
look to harm us.
  The Taliban and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan try to erase 
women and girls from society. Christians and other minority groups face 
constant threats, including torture, kidnapping, and murder.
  Idahoans and all Americans deserve to know that not one of their 
hard-earned tax dollars is going to fund these heinous organizations.
  I am thankful that President Trump has cut off aid to Afghanistan in 
an attempt to stop money from flowing to the Taliban.
  This bill that is before us right now will ensure that Congress is 
made aware of any exploitation of our tax dollars by the Taliban or to 
the Taliban, and that the U.S. Government has a plan to address that.
  This vote is an easy, resounding yes. It is beyond understanding why 
anyone would be against this legislation, where we are trying to keep 
money out of the hands of terrorists--our money.
  If Democrats continue to block this bill, as they have done for 
months, I am committed--and I recommit--to moving it as quickly as I 
can through regular process in my Foreign Relations Committee. This 
bill should become law.
  I urge my Democrat colleagues to join us to ensure that no American 
tax dollars go to the Taliban.
  I yield to my distinguished colleague from Montana.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Montana.
  Mr. SHEEHY. I want to thank Senator Risch for helping to lead this 
legislation in the Senate.
  Most Americans probably find it somewhat surprising, as they struggle 
with affordability, as they are struggling to fill their gas tank or 
pay their rent or afford their mortgage, that many of their tax 
dollars--in fact, upward of $10 billion of their tax dollars--are sent 
directly into the pockets of foreign terrorist organizations--terrorist 
organizations that we spent thousands of lives and decades fighting, to 
protect our shores, to include the lives of some of my friends.
  I spent years of my life, as did my wife spend years of her life, 
fighting these terrorist organizations, trying to keep this country 
safe, and now we are told that our tax dollars have an obligation to go 
into the pocket of those organizations to buy bullets, to build bombs, 
to coordinate attacks that don't just kill Americans. They kill those 
who share our values worldwide.
  It is not just westerners and Americans who are killed by this. The 
Taliban systemically hunts down those in Afghanistan with whom they 
disagree, those who want to be free, those women and girls who saw a 
brief period of freedom under our occupation there, and now they are 
once again placed in the yolk of terrible sexism, of not even fascism 
but outright terror.
  It isn't just Afghanistan. This extends across the globe. This 
terrorist financing network is not just guys in mountain caves 
collecting dollar bills. This is a sophisticated global finance network 
that spans the entire world.
  The Iranian regime, although not directly connected in many ways to 
this, is absolutely directly connected to the international flow of 
terrorist funds through sophisticated real estate transactions, 
cryptocurrency, oil smuggling, piracy, kidnapping, and terrorism.
  It is unthinkable that we would intentionally and knowingly hand our 
taxpayer dollars to organizations that actively kill Americans and 
attempt to destroy our values every single day.
  I think it should be a bipartisan American issue for us to finally 
put an end to this ridiculous practice that is actively costing us 
lives and precious freedom capital around the world.

[[Page S8606]]

  I hope we pass this act. I urge a ``yes'' vote, and I urge it 
quickly.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. RISCH. Mr. President, I thank Senator Sheehy for those remarks. I 
think you are absolutely correct that Americans have no idea that some 
of their taxpayer dollars are actually winding up in the hands of 
terrorists.
  I know there will be people who say: Oh, we can't do this because 
some money needs to go in there to help women, children, babies--that 
sort of thing.
  What we have learned, if we have learned anything from what has 
happened in Gaza, is that when you have a terrorist organization that 
is in charge of a country, it is impossible to keep the money, food, or 
anything else that is sent in there out of the hands of terrorists.
  If you see the terrorists on TV, they always look well fed. They are 
well armed. They are doing well. And, at the same time, the babies in 
the country are starving to death, and the same thing with the women 
and young children.
  So with that, this legislation is designed exactly to do that, and 
that is, to keep every dollar out of the hands of these terrorists.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that, as if in legislation 
session and notwithstanding rule XXII, the Committee on Foreign 
Relations be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 260 and the 
Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. I further ask that the 
bill be considered read a third time and passed and that the motion to 
reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. WELCH. Mr. President, reserving the right to object, first of 
all, what is important for me to acknowledge is that Senator Risch on 
the Foreign Relations Committee has done excellent work on making 
certain we don't get taxpayer dollars to the Taliban.
  I also want to acknowledge my appreciation for the service of the 
Senator from Montana and his wife in protecting us against terrorist 
activity.
  Let me explain why I object, because my objection is not for the 
purpose of keeping money out of the Taliban. That objective I support.
  What I don't support is a bill that is written in a way where aid and 
humanitarian organizations that are spending money they raise to do 
work we support--and that is to protect women and children who are 
subject to the vicious conduct of the Taliban--that they will be cut 
off from being able to do their work.
  The reality is, for some of these NGOs, if they have to pay an 
electric bill, then the bill, as drafted, would mean they are not able 
to do their work.
  So when you have an aid organization that is dedicated to trying to 
help girls and women from the oppression, who are from the Afghan 
people, who are the victims of the Taliban authoritarianism, and even 
paying an electric utility bill, even paying a water bill would mean 
that organization is shut down and can't do the good work that I 
believe the majority of us, if not all of us, in the Senate would 
support--because our concern is the well-being of the people of 
Afghanistan, and our objection is to the authoritarian and violent rule 
of the Taliban.
  So this bill, as drafted, would interfere with legitimate work that 
would do good for the people in Afghanistan, especially women and 
girls, who are the victims of the Taliban. Our government is not 
sending money to the Taliban. That was discontinued under President 
Trump.
  Our government is not sending money to American NGOs or NGOs in 
governments that are our allies. So what this bill is doing is trying 
to ensure that money that is sent to help Afghan women and children and 
other vulnerable people is not siphoned off to indirectly support the 
Taliban. That is a worthy objective, but it is overly broad in how it 
is written.
  So it would literally mean that NGOs that are doing work that we 
support can't be done. And for that reason, I do object.
  You know, we have got to keep in mind that the Taliban is our 
adversary, but there are over 3 million Afghans who have lost access to 
health services.
  There are many Afghans who served with our military and to whom we 
owe a debt of gratitude. They saved, in many cases, the lives of men 
and women who served in the military. And among the people who have 
been the biggest advocates for the Afghan people, as opposed to the 
Taliban, are many of our brave soldiers who have served in Afghanistan.
  So the objection here is based on how the bill is written, how it is 
overly broad and will have the effect of stopping good work that does 
good things for oppressed people. That is the reason that I want to 
assert my objection to this legislation.