Washington, DC—April 18, 2024…In response to Iran’s unprovoked attack on Israel last weekend, House Republicans passed a slew of legislation to deter further aggression from Iran and support our ally, Israel. Congressman Steve Womack (AR-3) supported every bill and is a cosponsor of two of them: H.R. 5947, To provide for the rescission of certain waivers and licenses relating to Iran, which passed the House of Representatives yesterday, and H. Res. 1143, Condemning Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel, which passed today.

Congressman Womack said, “Iran, the leading state sponsor of terror and brazen human rights abuser, hasn’t changed their ultimate goal – destroying the State of Israel. House Republicans have stepped up where the Biden Administration has fallen short. Advancing legislation this week to deter further aggression from Iran is our strategic and moral obligation to our friend and ally. The United States must continue to stand in unwavering support of Israel in their fight to protect their people and rid the world of evil terrorists.”

Bill breakdowns:

H.R. 5947, To provide for the rescission of certain waivers and licenses relating to Iran: In September 2023, the Biden Administration unfroze $6 billion in Iranian funds as part of a prisoner swap, allowing funds in South Korea and Qatar to be released to Iran for humanitarian needs. As everyone knows, money is fungible, meaning releasing money for humanitarian purposes allow Iran to shift money programmed for that purpose directly to support terrorism. In November 2023, the House passed HR 5961, the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act, which imposed sanctions on financial institutions engaging in transactions with the banks holding these funds. This bill would rescind the waiver used to unfreeze these funds in the first place, limiting the president’s ability to exercise the waiver in the future. (Womack Cosponsor)
H. Res. 1143, Condemning Iran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel: Condemns Iran’s recent attacks on Israel, reaffirms and supports Israel’s right to self-defense, and urges full enforcement of the United States’ sanctions and export controls against Iran. (Womack Cosponsor)
H.R. 6046, Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act: Requires the Secretary of State to designate Ansarallah, commonly referred to as the “Houthis”, as a foreign terrorist organization under the Immigration and Nationality Act and imposes sanctions on the Houthis and its affiliates.
H.R. 6323, Iran Counterterrorism Act: Requires Iran to have ceased support for acts of international terrorism as a condition for the President to waive secondary sanctions imposed with respect to the country. Also provides for a congressional review process for national security interest waivers (issued by OFAC) of these sanctions.
H.R. 4691, Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act: Establishes a review period for Congress to examine executive actions that ease or waive sanctions on Iran, requires the President to submit a report to Congress detailing the Administration’s proposed action and how it affects the United States’ national security and foreign policy interests in relation to Iran, and establishes expedited legislative procedures by which both chambers of Congress may pass a joint approval or disapproval resolution allowing or prohibiting the President’s actions with respect to Iran.

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 6046 and H.R. 5947, legislation cosponsored by Congressman Bruce Westerman (AR-04) to comprehensively address the threat posed by Iran. Westerman released the following statement in support of the bills:

“Iran is one of the world’s foremost sponsors of terrorism. The Obama Administration set an unruly precedent of appeasing Iran that the Biden Administration has compounded. This weakness has emboldened Iran to continue launching unjustified attacks against Israel, our greatest ally in the Middle East, just as we saw this past weekend. House Republicans acted swiftly this week with a slate of bills to stand with Israel and respond to Iran’s unprecedented attacks. I was proud to support these measures to further block Iran’s ability to continue financing these heinous attacks.”

BACKGROUND:
In 2021, the Biden Administration wrongfully removed the Iran-backed Houthis’ designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Since then, the Houthis have increased their terrorist activities, including their ongoing missile and drone attacks against global shipping.

H.R. 6046 would mandate the reimposition of the FTO and SDGT designations on the Houthis.

Since President Biden took office, the Biden Administration has used certain waivers and licenses related to Iran to transfer $6 billion in Iranian funds to restricted accounts in Qatar and $10 billion in payments from Iraq. The Iranian regime is highly skilled in evasion, cutting corners, and blurring lines to hide the true use of these funds, and the Biden Administration is compliant and complicit in these efforts. Any funding to Iran, even if nominally in a restricted account, frees up more money for Iran to use on malign activities. Iran is too potent a threat to the United States and our partners to allow these waivers to exist any longer.

H.R. 5947 would eliminate any of these sanction waivers and licenses related to Iran.

Womack cosponsored measures combatting Iran’s unprovoked attack on Israel pass the House

House passes Westerman cosponsored bills to combat Iranian aggression