National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022

Floor Speech

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Mr. STEIL. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the time of the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, the mishandled evacuation from Afghanistan was a tragic disaster. The fundamental misunderstanding of the situation on the ground, a faulty plan for withdrawal, and poor strategic decisionmaking in Washington put our troops in harm's way, leading to the abandonment of American citizens and the deaths of 13 brave American servicemembers, including critical injuries to two marines from the First Congressional District of Wisconsin.

My amendments to the national defense bill are directed at getting answers for our troops and the American people, and I ask my colleagues for their support.

My first amendment would require the Treasury Department to report to Congress on the current status of the U.S. and U.N. sanctions on the Taliban. We must look at the current gaps in our sanctions and ensure that the Taliban is not able to finance their takeover by profiting from the drug trade and rare earth minerals.

My second amendment would require the Treasury Department to regularly report to Congress on any sanctions waivers provided to allow transactions between financial institutions and targeted individuals.

In addition, my amendment requires the Treasury Department to list out foreign banks that conduct significant transactions for persons that have been sanctioned for human rights abuses or corruption.

My third amendment will hold Iran accountable. Iran has been emboldened. At a time when this administration is signaling that they intend to remove sanctions with Iran, we must ensure U.S. sanctions are enforced to prevent the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Congress must understand the full nature of Iran's power and undertake a full audit of how Iranian-backed groups in the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces took advantage of U.S. assistance given to the Iraqi Government in the anti-ISIS campaign.

Finally, I introduced an amendment with my colleague, Congresswoman Dean. Our bill improves intelligence coordination to combat the illicit financing of human trafficking.

Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support these amendments.

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