No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2023
Floor Speech
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Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 5921) to prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from authorizing certain transactions by a United States financial institution in connection with Iran, to prevent the International Monetary Fund from providing financial assistance to Iran, to codify prohibitions on Export-Import Bank financing for the Government of Iran, and for other purposes, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The text of the bill is as follows: H.R. 5921
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``No U.S. Financing for Iran Act of 2023''. SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON AUTHORIZATIONS FOR UNITED STATES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS.
The Secretary of the Treasury may not authorize a transaction by a U.S. financial institution (as defined in section 561.309 of title 31, Code of Federal Regulations) in connection with the importation from or exportation to the Islamic Republic of Iran of any goods, services, or technology, other than the sale of agricultural commodities, food, medicine, medical devices, or humanitarian assistance benefitting the civilian population of Iran. SEC. 3. OPPOSITION TO IMF ASSISTANCE.
The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund to--
(1) oppose the provision of financial assistance by the Fund to the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the allocation to the Government of Iran of Special Drawing Rights; and
(2) seek to ensure that member countries of the Fund prohibit the exchange of Special Drawing Rights held by the Government of Iran. SEC. 4. CODIFICATION OF EXPORT-IMPORT BANK PROHIBITION WITH RESPECT TO IRAN.
Section 2(b) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
``(14) Prohibition on financing for iran.--The Bank may not guarantee, insure, or extend (or participate in an extension of) credit in connection with any transaction, with respect to which credit assistance from the Bank is first sought after the effective date of this paragraph, for which a lender or obligor is the Government of Iran or an entity owned or controlled by the Government of Iran.''. SEC. 5. SUNSET.
This Act and the amendment made by this Act are hereby repealed effective on the earliest of--
(1) the date that is 30 days after the date the President of the United States certifies to the Congress that the Government of Iran--
(A) has ceased providing support for acts of international terrorism; and
(B) is not a jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern, as described under section 5318A of title 31, United States Code; or
(2) 10 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of this bill, the No U.S. Financing for Iran Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Huizenga). Mr. Huizenga is the subcommittee chair on the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, an important leader on the committee and an important voice in this Congress.
Mr. Speaker, let me first start by expressing that this was a bipartisan bill reported out of committee. All Republicans on the committee voted for it, and seven Democrats voted for this bill coming out of committee. It is a bipartisan bill.
Now, the standards of bipartisanship--I don't know what the judgment is now for a Democrat who voted against the bill in committee to say that his fellow Democrats aren't Democrats for voting for this bill. I don't think that is what the gentleman was indicating, but the standard of bipartisanship, we have met it here. We have seven Democrats who voted for this bill out of committee.
When we reported it out of committee, it was a different time. We reported this out of committee before Thanksgiving, November 14. In light of what just happened over the weekend, we think that some of our committee members, and likewise some Democrats on the floor, might see this bill a little differently than maybe they voted in November.
After this massive attack by the Iranian regime against Israel, we thought maybe they would look differently at this. It is a sad thing that a bipartisan bill like this doesn't get support from Democratic leadership or some on the other side of the aisle.
What this bill does is narrow down what Iran can get from international support. We still allow for important humanitarian exemptions for us to provide the people of Iran--not the regime, the people of Iran--humanitarian assistance.
What Mr. Huizenga's bill does is require the Treasury Secretary to oppose with their voting power at the IMF, and their statements and their words, saying to the IMF: Do not support the Iranian regime and don't allow any unconditional opportunity for Iran to access the IMF. That is simply what we are doing here.
That doesn't end the Iranian regime's ability to get international dollars and international funds to support their war-making capacity or their terrorism activity, but it is an important statement that we should make as a Congress, in light of what happened over the weekend, that times are different.
Mr. Speaker, I commend Mr. Huizenga for the important work that the gentleman from Michigan has done to craft this bill. It was a good bill in November that achieved bipartisan support out of committee. It is an even better bill now that my colleagues can see the malevolence of this Iranian regime and their commitment for war-making and terror.
Mr. Speaker, I urge the adoption of this bill, and I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. McHENRY. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
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