It is widely known that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terror on earth. Through its proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah, it funds dozens of attacks on Israel and other U.S. allies every year. Over the weekend, Iran launched a direct attack on Israel by firing hundreds of missiles and drones with the goal of indiscriminately killing as many Israelis as possible. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is essentially the Iranian government and a terrorist group itself, claims these acts where somehow an act of defense. If it weren’t so serious and dangerous, that claim would be laughable. The IRGC has been attacking Israel for decades and was the primary sponsor and supporter of Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7th.

We’ve talked a lot about sanctions over the last weeks, months, and even years. As I’m writing this, the White House is promising new, hard-hitting sanctions on Iran. But sanctions aren’t new. We’ve actually been sanctioning Iran since the late 1970s. So, it begs the question: how is Iran funding all of these attacks, continuing to build its nuclear capabilities, and growing the wealth of the people at the very top of its government? Like Russia, Iran is quite skilled at getting around U.S. and European sanctions. They do this in many ways including utilizing shell companies to launder money and stealing humanitarian aid from their own people.

While thinking about how Iran and Russia evade sanctions, it also raises the question: how did we get to a point where we’re talking about more sanctions in response to some of the worst people on the planet so cavalierly attacking humanity? That question is easier to answer. The Biden Administration’s refusal to lead has emboldened our adversaries.

The 2021 withdraw from Afghanistan – often touted as an achievement by Biden and his Cabinet – not only killed 13 U.S. service members, but it also gave the green light to terrorist organizations in the Middle East to take over and wreak havoc. Because bad news spreads fast, other nefarious actors, like Putin, followed suit. In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union. On October 7^th, 2023, Hamas claimed over 1,200 lives, 32 of which were American, in the brutal attack against Israel. Every day, the Chinese Communist Party persistently spies on American citizens and infiltrates our economy, all while edging closer to waging war against Taiwan.  These places, dates and events don’t even scratch the surface of the impact war, let alone terrorism has on a nation and its economy, people and longevity.

We can’t stop every bad person from doing bad things. Maniacs like Putin and IRGC leader Hossein Salami will always be evil. But we can make it more difficult for Iran to achieve their goals. This week the House passed several bills to directly combat Iran’s ability to fund terrorism. One of them was my bill, the Iran Sanctions Accountability Act. For decades, our sanctions have allowed for humanitarian aid for ordinary civilians. Because of that, it is our duty to ensure aid is reaching the intended recipients. My bill forces the Administration to put certain mechanisms in place to ensure humanitarian aid cannot be stolen from the Iranian people and diverted to other parts of Iran's budget to be spent on bombs, missiles, and drone attacks. In passing The Iran Sanctions Accountability Act, Congress is ensuring any future humanitarian aid to Iran undergoes rigorous due diligence.

I stand by my decision to support Israel and always have. As a nation, Israel has a fundamental right to defend themselves and deserves support from their allies whether it be via the Iron Dome –which numerous House Democrats tried to defund – or through backing them in their fight against terrorists invading their soil. The world has exploited the Administration’s weakness for over three years now. It’s time to draw a line in the sand and, if crossed, respond with the full force of the most powerful nation on earth.

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