Fight and Combat Rampant Iranian Missile Exports Act

Floor Speech

Mr. Speaker, for decades, the United States and our allies have harbored grave concerns regarding Iran's ballistic missile program. Leading among those concerns is the fear that they are being developed to one day deploy a nuclear warhead. However, we have also experienced Iran's short- and medium-range missiles that pose a direct and deadly threat to American forces in the region and the territories of numerous allies and partners.

Iran currently has more than 3,000 ballistic missiles in its stockpile. In recent years, despite international pressure, these missiles have achieved a much greater range and accuracy. Iran has also supplied precision-guided missiles and drones to proxies in Lebanon and Syria. Iran's growing missile capabilities could one day allow it to threaten Europe and the United States' mainland directly.

Without a doubt, it is in the interest of the United States to prevent Iran from further expanding its missile capabilities. Today, global sanctions are in place which aim to limit Iran's missile program. They are found in the U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, and unfortunately, they are set to expire in October of 2023. Russia and China's presence on the Security Council has made it impossible to negotiate an extension of these multilateral sanctions.

Mr. Speaker, in October, when the U.N. regulations expire, Iran would be free in the eyes of the U.N. to develop nuclear weapon delivery systems, including ICBMs that could reach the United States homeland. Let's be clear. Iran has never abided by the missile restrictions outlined in the Security Council resolution, but when the sanctions expire, it would open the door for Iran to advance its missile program by utilizing technologies more freely from around the world.

Upon expiration of the sanctions, Iranian leaders will immediately gain access to items it cannot easily acquire domestically, such as gyroscopes, sensors, and numerous other sophisticated components necessary for modern ballistic missiles. Upon securing these technologies from abroad, Iran could begin to reverse engineer them and begin domestic production as it has done in the past.

That is why, together with our allies, we must act. I applaud the European Union for telling Iran they plan to retain their own EU, European Union, ballistic missile sanctions set to expire in October. Today we want to send Iran the message that the United States intends to do the same.

That is why we are considering this bipartisan legislation introduced by Chairman McCaul that imposes mandatory property blocking and visa sanctions on anyone involved in the supply, sale, or transfer of or support for Iran's missiles and drones. The legislation also requires the executive branch to submit a report on the Iranian missiles and drones to Congress, specifically outlining their strategy to counter this menace.

Mr. Speaker, there is near-global consensus that Iran should not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon or the missile that could help them carry one. I encourage all of my colleagues to support this important bipartisan legislation.

Therefore, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure. I thank Mr. McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks, and I reserve the balance of my time.

The threat of Iranian missiles and drones is real. The clock is ticking, and Congress, the United States Government, and the world at large needs to act. This bill is an important measure to prevent Iran from being able to acquire more sophisticated technology as a result of the expiring sanctions.

I thank Chairman McCaul and Ranking Member Meeks for introducing this legislation, and I strongly urge my colleagues to support this measure.

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