House Republicans voted Wednesday to advance legislation that would ban cash payments to Iran in response to the Obama administration’s admission that it used $400 million as “leverage” to obtain the release of four Americans in January.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee approved the bill from Chairman Ed Royce, R-Calif., in a 21-16 party-line vote. The vote was held after a debate in which Republicans argued that Obama’s cash payment was seen as a “ransom” payment by Iran, and that this perception has already put more Americans at risk.
“We’ve had three more hostages abducted while they were in Iran,” Royce said during the committee’s debate on the bill. Committee approval of the bill sets it up for a possible vote on the House floor, although it’s not yet clear whether GOP leaders will allow a vote before Congress leaves for the November elections at the end of this month.
Republicans on both sides of the Capitol have been on offense over the Iran payments ever since it was revealed that the administration delayed the $400 million in cash to Iran until it was sure four American hostages were released. The GOP says that effectively made it a ransom payment, which goes against U.S. policy.
To remedy the situation, Royce’s bill would make it U.S. policy not to “pay ransom or release prisoners for the purpose of securing the release of United States citizens taken hostage abroad.”
It would also specifically bar any cash payment to Iran, and holds that any settlement entered into with Iran must be licensed by the government.
Democrats have argued for weeks that the $400 million was the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement of a claim Iran had against the U.S. over a 1979 deal for U.S. military equipment that was never finalized. For that reason, they say it’s not a ransom.
“It is clear that we are in a political season,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., said during the markup. “Because the payment was in cash doesn’t mean it was in secret nor does it mean it was a ransom.”
But Republicans have noted that the administration only admitted the cash payment after it was reported, and that it was later discovered that the entire $1.7 billion was paid in cash.
During the markup, Royce maintained that it was a ransom payment because Iran sees it as ransom. “The Iranians viewed it as ransom, because I’ve seen the tape of their comments when this transition occurred,” he said.
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., opposed the GOP bill but proposed an alternative amendment, a transparency measure that would require the administration to notify Congress in advance of any payment in any form to Iran. “Payment is payment, whether it’s cash or not doesn’t really matter,” said Engel, the top Democrat on the committee.
Royce agreed on the need for more transparency, but said he couldn’t support a bill that didn’t ban cash payments because Iran uses cash to finance its terrorist proxies. “Everyone knows that cash is the conduit of all sorts of illegal behaviors,” he said.
Although the committee split on party lines over the amendment, they agreed on the need to hear more about the payments from the State Department.
“One thing I’ve learned from sitting in all these meetings is this foreign policy stuff is very complicated,” Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., said. “I think it would be a more reasoned way for us to proceed if we want to discuss this issue to bring some people in, whether it’s from the department or think tanks, some people who can give us a perspective.”
