No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, the unprovoked assault on Israel on October 7 shocked millions around the world and demonstrated the unrelenting brutality of Hamas.

While many countries around the world supported Israel as it confronted this single deadliest day for the Jews since the Holocaust, many did not. Many of the countries that pointedly refused to condemn Hamas are located in the Middle East.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment expresses a sense of Congress that all U.S. allies in the Middle East should publicly and unequivocally condemn the anti-Semitism displayed by the Iranian-backed terror groups, including Hamas.

Mr. Chairman, Kuwait, a country that American soldiers liberated from Saddam Hussein, expressed its grave concern and blamed Israel for the blatant attacks. Kuwait further urged the international community to stop the provocative practices by the occupation.

Talk about victim blaming, Mr. Chairman, especially when the guilty party, Hamas, has proudly taken responsibility for attacking and raping Jewish civilians.

Lebanon, a country which at this point is effectively controlled by the terrorist group Hezbollah, congratulated the resisting Palestinian people. Hezbollah hailed Hamas for its large-scale heroic operation, an operation that saw an 8-year-old girl have her hands cut off and then being left to bleed to death.

Tunisia declared its full and unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian people following Hamas' brutality on October 7, an attack that saw a pregnant woman have her mouth duct-taped and her baby cut out of her stomach. In no uncertain terms, the country, a listed major non-NATO ally, maintained their position to fully stand by the Palestinian people until they recover their entire land.

Qatar, a country whose state-controlled media outlet, Al Jazeera, which should also be known as the Qatari news network, is the mouthpiece of Hamas terrorists and blamed Israel for being solely responsible for the ongoing escalation and stressed their unwavering stance on the justice of the Palestinian cause and for the international community to compel Israel to cease its blatant violation of international law. These attacks saw women bound, gang-raped, and then murdered, attacks that saw a baby put in an oven and baked alive, the father's eyes gouged out and the mother raped.

On November 1, the Kingdom of Jordan, a country which was given well over half a billion in taxpayer dollars in this last year's omnibus, recalled its Ambassador to Israel.

Other countries, including Oman, Turkiye, and Egypt, choose to equivocate instead of condemning Hamas.

Wherever you are on the political spectrum, the attack was inhumane. It was brutal. It was blatant, and those culpable should be punished.

The international community, including many of the Arab states that I have mentioned, should join with the international community in condemning Hamas and should speak for the innocent.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, most Americans would be surprised and disgusted to learn that Iran has been given approximately $50 billion in a sanctions relief package by the Biden administration.

More to the point, it was done in exchange for a promise from Iran that they wouldn't produce weapons-grade uranium. That is it. That is all we apparently got.

Think about the implications of this deal. The Ayatollah, who embraces chants of ``Death to America'' and ``Death to Israel,'' can produce even more deadly long-range missiles, but that is fine by Joe Biden. How about highly enriched uranium? Somewhere in Foggy Bottom, Antony Blinken is nodding his head: Sure, why not?

The Ayatollah can put his country on the cusp of the nuclear threshold and hold it over us as a constant threat. He can continue to pocket billions of taxpayer dollars made available by the so-called adults in charge at our State Department.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, civil. On October 7, Iran sponsored the murder, rape, and torture of innocent civilians.

Civil. I do not trust Iran with nuclear material.

Civil. They raped little girls.

Civil. I should think not.

This is a no-brainer, Mr. Chairman. This administration--whether due to side deals, incompetence, or just selling out America--is bringing the world's most grievous, grotesque sponsor of state terrorism closer to nuclear capabilities.

Mr. Chairman, I am from the South. You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.

Iran should be punished for what happened in Israel. Hamas should be driven into the sea. Respectfully to my colleague, we should take extraordinary measures to send a message to the world that this will never happen again.

Iran must pay and pay dearly. This is but a first step.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, the world is in a precarious place. We see the CCP making moves in the Pacific against Taiwan. Russia has made a move against Ukraine. Iranian-backed terrorists killed innocent civilians.

There should be no relief for Iran. There should be no sanctions relief for Iran, for they are not civil. They do not belong at a seat at the table with the rest of the world. They need to be driven into the stone age, where they belong and how they behave.

Mr. Chairman, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.
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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, while Hamas terrorists were brutalizing Israeli citizens, Hamas' top leadership was celebrating from a penthouse in Doha.

Qatar claims to be our ally. They want to hold a special place with the United States. We have a forward operating base there.

While they are claiming to be our friend, they are literally housing, aiding, and abetting terrorists from Hamas, roughly a dozen who are worth billions, flying on private jets, drinking champagne, and partying while Israeli citizens are being slaughtered.

Qatar has the opportunity to stand with the United States, stand with the innocent people of Israel who were murdered.

This sense of Congress simply urges that Qatar should condemn Hamas, turn over Hamas leadership to U.S. and Israeli custody, and pledge never to facilitate the transfer of covered Iranian funds to Iran.

Mr. Chairman, there is a direct link between the money that was wired to Doha and terrorism. Iran has said they will use the money however they see fit. It is time for our allies or so-called allies to be our allies.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, a thief that robs your house, then 2 days later mows your lawn, is still a thief. A country that houses terrorists is still an accomplice. It is a fact.

While they are giving over or assisting with the release of the hostages, they have the opportunity to give over the Hamas leaders who planned and orchestrated the attack, but will they do it? Of course not, because they are guilty.

Qatar reportedly gives Hamas between $360 million and $480 million per year. To my friend, I wonder how many of those dollars from Qatar given to Hamas bought bullets, bought antitank mines, paid for the training of the soldiers that raped children.

I wonder how many of those millions of dollars built the training camps in Gaza. When the militants, the terrorists went in, they were well armed. They were well trained. I wonder how many of the millions of dollars Qatar gave Hamas to pay for that. Al Jazeera, the terrorist news network, has praised the attack. It is controlled by Qatar.

If my child or children that I love stick their hand in the cookie jar, just because I love them doesn't mean that they will escape punishment.

Qatar may claim to be our friend, but they just got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and perhaps they should be punished.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, with respect to Qatar's recent activities on the world stage, I will just say this: Qatar should not get a pass whenever it decides to stop playing law breaker in order to start playing first responder.

I think it is a misnomer to think that without Qatar, that somehow negotiations wouldn't take place. The reality of the situation on the ground is the reason why Hamas is negotiating, because Israel is kicking their butt and is going to continue to do so. These negotiations would happen with or without Qatar.

Qatar benefits from our Air Force base there.

If my colleague from my own party thinks giving money to Qatar so that Hamas can rape little girls, then that is his choice, not mine.

You can't pretend to be our friend when you are funding an organization that attacks and brutalizes innocent civilians. You can't have it both ways. It just doesn't work that way. You can't have your network praising the attacks.

Mr. Chair, I yield back the balance of my time.
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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, if I were to describe to you a group that has just seized a cargo ship and what Israel has since referred to as an Iranian act of terrorism, you might come to the conclusion that perpetrators can't distinguish between civilians and military targets.

If I were to also tell you that the same group just earlier this week shot two ballistic missiles at a U.S. warship, you might come to the conclusion that these perpetrators are the enemies of the United States.

Finally, if I told you that this group is guilty of kidnapping and torturing U.S. citizens, you might come to the conclusion that we need to wipe these people off the face of the Earth.

You might think that the Biden administration would agree, but apparently it does not, and that is to the detriment of our national security.

This is a sense of Congress that the Houthis continue to benefit from the Biden administration's unwillingness to unequivocally condemn.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Louisiana (Mr. Scalise).

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I urge adoption of my amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. OGLES. Mr. Chair, I demand a recorded vote.

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