Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Chairman, can I bring a slightly different discussion and weave it back into the things that have been said here?

Mechanically, we often have this conversation that if we had a more holistic understanding of the money that was going to bad actors around the world-- I am holding parts of the report here talking about 18 tons of cocaine being moved through north Africa and then, ultimately, through Lebanon, through the handlers of Hezbollah and a billion-plus dollars of cash. As you and I know, we have all sat through the terrorism financing testimony and others that Hezbollah doesn't move, ultimately, without their puppet masters in Iran instructing them on what to do.

So take a step backwards. If I came to you and said I care about terrorism, I care about bad actors, I care about drug resources moving through the world, and I have the country of Iran whose proxies are functionally, today, the leading money launderers not only in the region, but probably the world, and then we look at what the administration has done--I understand many people support it for the nuclear arms side. I am fine. I am enraged that the openness and the misrepresentation and lying--just plain lying--to Congress on the timing, what happened, and how it was delivered--was it in cash, or was it in wires? So a piece of legislation like this, why would we fear another layer of just openness and disclosure saying that this is woven into many evil, bad actors in the world that are moving billions of dollars of illicit money and illicit narcotics, people--human smuggling--why wouldn't we want to sort of have the view of what is Iran's hand in it, what is their proxy's hand in it we call Hezbollah?

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Mr. SCHWEIKERT. Mr. Chairman, many of us have sat on the terrorism finance committee, and I appreciate Chairman Hensarling for allowing me to sit there. But the more you learn, the more you understand the levels of complication. We have this habit around here, when we get behind the microphones, we make things direct and simple in a sound bite. It is complex, and there are tremendous amounts of money and bad things happening here.

Why would a simple piece of legislation--one of the beautiful things in here is it gives me more openness so we understand what the bad actors are doing.

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