Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCALISE. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank the gentleman for yielding and for his leadership in bringing this bill to the floor.

Mr. Chairman, back in June of 2015, President Obama said: ``It is United States policy to deny hostage-takers the benefits of ransom, prisoner releases, policy changes, or other acts of concession.''

That was back in 2015. Of course, just 6 months later, President Obama released seven Iranians and sent $400 million in cash to Iran in exchange for Americans held hostage.

When the initial word came out that $400 million was sent in unmarked bills on an unmarked plane to, in essence, exchange that money for American hostages, it sent a chilling signal all across the world. Not only was the administration completing a prisoner swap, but the administration was actually cowering to the Iranians' request for a cash payment.

$400 million was converted into European currency, flown through Geneva, and then transferred to Iran just as the American hostages were released. But what we heard from the White House were denials, actually calling us out, saying it wasn't a ransom payment, despite the clearly coordinated series of events.

Mr. Chairman, nonetheless, we learn that the President's own Justice Department warned that this cash payment would signal a change in U.S. ransom policy and, of course, the Iranians themselves consider it a ransom payment. In fact, the Iranians bragged that they received cash ransom from the United States.

Nonetheless, the administration continues to refuse to confront this problem and how it actually makes America less safe. And we have seen that play out. Since this hostage ransom payment, more Americans and other Westerners have been taken hostage because the President put a bounty on the heads of Americans and other Westerners.

We have also learned there is another $1.3 billion sent to Iran in cash. The administration said that there was no other way to send the payment; that they couldn't wire it. But, of course, since then, we have learned that there have been wire transfers made to Iran. So the President continued to mislead the American people about this serious breach of American protocol as it deals with Iran.

Now, a serious question to ask is: Where is that $1.7 billion going? And not if, but how much of that $1.7 billion is going to end up in the hands of Hezbollah, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations?

After all, Iran is the largest state sponsor of terror.

I think these are all important questions that need to be answered, Mr. Chairman. So all of these serious questions need to be answered by the administration, which has continued throughout this entire process of misleading the American people about what really happened. And the American people are demanding answers.

This bill by Chairman Royce is a serious response to stop these kinds of cash ransom payments from ever happening again to make America less safe. I appreciate all of my colleagues voting for this.

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