Press Realease: Cook Statement on DOJ Action to Create Hezbollah Financing Taskforce

Press Release

Today, Congressman Paul Cook (R-CA-08), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, issued the following statement on the U.S. Department of Justice's announcement of the creation of a Hezbollah Financing and Narcoterrorism Team to focus on individuals and networks providing support to Hezbollah:

Chairman Cook: "I applaud the Trump Administration for listening to Congress and the American people in our concern over Hezbollah's growing drug trafficking activities in the Americas. Terrorists and criminal groups are fueling the drug crisis in our country directly, and this must end. The Justice Department's action is an important first step to denying Hezbollah the support it needs to operate, but we must use every available tool to target Hezbollah's terrorism and criminal activities. I encourage the Administration to designate Hezbollah as a Transnational Criminal Organization and as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficking Kingpin. I also urge our regional partners to join us in preventing safe havens for Hezbollah and in holding Hezbollah supporters and enablers accountable under the law."

NOTE: Chairman Cook along with Chairman Poe and Chairman Ros-Lehtinen sent a letter on December 19, 2017 to President Trump urging stronger U.S. action to address Hezbollah's drug trafficking activities in the Western Hemisphere. The Subcommittee also held a hearing on the effectiveness of the Kingpin Designation Act on November 8, 2017 in which witnesses noted that the U.S. needs to recognize and target Hezbollah's terror finance activities in the Western Hemisphere

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