By US Representative Bob Goodlatte Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee
You’ve heard the old phrase: if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. In this case, the Obama Administration secretly paid $400 million in cash to Iran on the same day Iran released several American hostages. I don’t know about you, but that looks an awful lot like a ransom payment to me.
On January 17, the day after the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, an unmarked plane transported $400 million in foreign cash to Iran, coinciding with the release of several Americans who had been held hostage. According to the State Department, the sum was paid to Iran as part of a settlement for undelivered military equipment from decades ago. However, the payment was withheld from Iran until the American hostages were released.
Since news of this went public last month, questions have arisen about the nature and timing of this payment. Media reports even indicate that the Justice Department opposed the timing. Instead of calling it a ransom payment, the State Department said the payment was used as “leverage.” Spin it however they like, but this $400 million payment to Iran looks a lot like a ransom payment, and the American people see it as such.
By making a payment in this manner, the Administration violated longstanding U.S. policy to not pay ransom for the purpose of securing the release of Americans held hostage abroad. Paying ransom has serious foreign policy implications. It empowers, emboldens, and incentivizes our adversaries across the globe to capture and hold Americans hostage for ransom. As a result, the Administration has effectively put a price tag on Americans travelling in that part of the world. Furthermore, in total, some $1.7 billion has now been paid to Iran as part of this settlement. Cash payments to Iran, the leading state sponsor of terrorism, could very well be funneled back to terrorist activities against the United States and our allies.
This cash payment, and the entire Iran nuclear deal for that matter, should never have happened. We must prevent future Administrations from making these payments as well. The House of Representatives is taking action by passing the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act (H.R. 5931) to prohibit all cash payments to Iran – period. Additionally, H.R. 5931, which I cosponsored and voted for in the House, requires greater transparency from the Administration to Congress on any future settlements with Iran.
The Obama Administration has misled the American people, changing their story, failing to disclose the facts, and putting more American lives in harm’s way. This reckless foreign policy must not be the new status quo. The United States must continue to stand our ground against deplorable actions of terrorists, not cave to them or those who seek to support them.
Bob Goodlatte represents the 6th Congressional District in the state of Virginia, and serves as Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Source: Daily Progress, 25 Sep. 2016
