Press Release

Today, with the support of U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), the U.S. House of Representatives passed a broad bill designed to sanction three key bad actors on the world stage. The legislation, entitled, “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act” (H.R. 3364), is an enhanced version of legislation that passed the Senate 98-2 last month, and gives the U.S. Congress more diplomatic tools to use against Iran, Russia and North Korea.

     “When foreign nations are supplying arms to our enemies, egregiously abusing human rights and using nefarious digital attacks in an attempt to undermine democratic elections—including here in the United States—the stakes could hardly be higher,” said Smith, Chairman of the House panel on global human rights, on the House Floor. Click Here to Read Smith’s Full Statement.

     “Iran possesses the largest ballistic missile program in the region and its medium-range ballistic missiles are already able to strike Israel, our allies and installations in the Gulf from deep within Iranian territory,” said Smith, a co-Sponsor of the bill. “Iran’s growing space launch program—a thinly-veiled testing scheme for intercontinental ballistic missiles—is cause for greater alarm still. This legislation provides crucial tools and I support it wholeheartedly.”

     The legislation, which began as a sanctions bill against Iran before growing to encompass Russia and North Korea, was drafted in response to the Obama Administration’s failed nuclear deal, which gave Iran billions of dollars in sanction relief. Since receiving these funds, research from the House Foreign Affairs Committee has found that the Iranian government continues its support for Hezbollah, the Assad regime and other regional proxies.

     In 2015, during the House debate on the Iran Nuclear deal, Smith noted the need for increased sanctions against Iran, calling on Congress to “[r]einstate comprehensive, robust sanctions.” Earlier this year, Smith praised the Trump Administration for implementing new sanctions, putting Iran on notice for their aggressive military actions.

     “Putin’s government has moved from threats to aggressive action against our friends—including Ukraine, allies and innocent civilians abroad. And it did so long ago, when it invaded Georgia in 2008. I was there, in Tbilisi, several weeks after that invasion began, to work to secure the exit of two young children, constituents of mine, trapped behind Russian lines in South Ossetia. I will never forget the quiet courage of the Georgian people in Tbilisi—not entirely surprised by Putin’s invasion, they were too wise for that—uncertain whether the Russian army would proceed to Tbilisi, and determined to soldier on in defense of their country,” said Smith.

     Smith also added, “I am glad to see sanctions against Russia, created in part for its aggressive actions in Ukraine, codified by the U.S. Congress.”

     In documentation supporting the legislation, the Committee also noted that Russia has provided material and other support to the Assad regime, and indiscriminately bombed civilians in a civil war that has killed or displaced millions. In addition, the Russian state has repeatedly conducted cyberattacks against democratic states with designs to splinter the NATO alliance.

     “North Korea is a gulag masquerading as a country; we must cut off all economic lifelines to Kim Jong-un and punish Pyongyang's clients and its enablers. With hundreds of thousands of North Korean laborers abroad—sending as much as $2 billion a year back to the regime in hard currency—we should look at targeting this expatriate labor and the governments and corporations that employ them. Loopholes in our sanctions on North Korea’s shipping and financial sectors must be closed. And when we discover that foreign banks have helped Kim Jong-un skirt sanctions—as those in China have repeatedly done—we must give those banks and businesses a stark choice: do business with Kim Jong-un or the U.S.,” said Smith.

     CNN has reported that since the month of February the North Korean regime has launched 17 missiles, including its first successful launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the range to strike the lower 48 states, with more tests likely to come soon. The sanctions in this bill will help cut off the funds used to design and build these missiles.

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