[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15466]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




              JUSTICE FOR VICTIMS OF IRANIAN TERRORISM ACT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Denham) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. DENHAM. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 3457, the 
Justice for Victims of Iranian Terrorism Act. Iran currently owes $43.5 
billion to victims of state-sponsored terrorism. Hundreds of Americans 
have personally felt the impact of Iranian terrorism. In the last 30 
years, Americans studying abroad, teaching or traveling through the 
Middle East have been taken hostage, killed in suicide bombings and 
gunned down by members of the Islamic jihad.
  The damages owed have been previously awarded by U.S. courts under 
Federal law, and the judgments remain unsatisfied by the Islamic 
Republic of Iran. Under the President's Iran deal, sanctions on Iran 
will be lifted, and an estimated $150 billion in assets will be 
released to them, and not one single cent will be used to pay the debts 
owed to the victims of Iranian-sponsored terrorism.

                              {time}  1045

  H.R. 3457 holds Iran accountable to the victims of its terrorism by 
ensuring that not one cent of sanction relief goes to Iran until the 
victims are paid.
  I am a proud cosponsor of Mr. Meehan's legislation, and I urge my 
colleagues to do the same.

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