Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act of 2023

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. HILL. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman of our committee, Mr. McHenry from North Carolina, for affording the time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 6245, the Holding Iranian Leaders Accountable Act.

This legislation would make public detailed information about the assets held by senior Iranian Government officials and require the U.S. Treasury to brief Congress about how the money was acquired and used and the total amounts. The Secretary would also identify and seek closure of U.S. and foreign bank accounts connected with these assets.

By combining publicly available information with U.S. intelligence, this legislation can provide a valuable window into the corrupt business practices of Iran's top kleptocrats and limit their financial holdings, which can be used to support and sponsor terrorism.

Chief among them is Ayatollah Khamenei who, according to Reuters, controls a massive financial empire of real estate, corporate stakes, and other assets that total nearly $100 billion.

That is right, Mr. Speaker, the Ayatollah in Iran, a cleric, a man of the faith of his religion in Iran, is worth $100 billion while roughly 60 percent of the Iranian people live in poverty. It is important to show ordinary Iranians and the rest of the world about the theft and corruption of Iran's leaders.

The Iranian regime has been funding terrorism against the United States for far too long. We have court cases in New York, Mr. Speaker, of assassination attempts in this country by Iranian actors. For example, Hamas--so long in the news here because of what has happened in Gaza--is a creature of Iranian money and training, and the recent barbaric terrorist attacks against Israel demonstrate the need to expose these financial ties.

In Syria, Iran is the primary financier of Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard units fighting alongside Russia to prop up Assad's murderous regime.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for recent drone attacks against U.S. forces in northeast Syria and along the Jordanian border, and in Yemen, Iran is the primary financier of the Houthis who have routinely launched long-range missiles at Israel over Saudi Arabian airspace and actively attacked international shipping and U.S. military naval and air forces in the region.

These proxies, Mr. Speaker, seek to destabilize the Middle East by creating chaos and hiding behind hostages and civilians.

Here at home, we need strong, bipartisan leadership in this House to protect our Nation, defend our allies, and assist the innocent. I am proud to say this bill passed the House Financial Services Committee 49-0 in November--unanimously--and a similar version of this bill passed with bipartisan support in a prior Congress.

I thank my good friend from California, Congressman Juan Vargas, for his bipartisan support to expose the theocratic blood money and crack down on the banks that maintain accounts with connection to those funds. I thank Chairman McHenry for affording this bill to come to the House floor.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on H.R. 6245.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source