Ed Royce

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend any remarks and to include extraneous material on this measure in the Record.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, in view of the National Defense Authorization conference, and in view of the fact that, from the House side, Mr. Engel and I both serve on that conference, I yield the balance of my time to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), and I ask unanimous consent that she may control that time on this legislation.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, today the House of Representatives here considers four measures that we have worked on in a bipartisan way, four measures that are consistent with the President's call for an approach to Iran that addresses the full range of threats that it possesses to not just the United States, but to our allies, to our partners as well. This legislation, which I have authored along with my colleague, Eliot Engel, I am proud to say we now have 323 cosponsors to this bill. This is the bipartisan Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act. What this does is respond to the regime's continued pursuit of intercontinental ballistic missiles and to dangerous conventional weapons. Mr. Speaker, I will begin by thanking my good friend, Mr. Engel, for his hard work, his collaboration, along with Mr. Steny Hoyer and Mr. McCarthy, in bringing this important legislation to this floor. Iran has already developed an arsenal of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, and those missiles put our allies, our partners, as well as U.S. forces in range. Now Iran is working on intercontinental ballistic missiles. I think to get the point across, I would just quote our former Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, because he testified before Congress on this issue. What he conveyed to us is: `` . . . the I in ICBM stands for intercontinental, which means having the capability from flying from Iran to the United States, and we don't want that.'' That was the way he explained this. One of the reasons that we don't want that is that intercontinental ballistic missiles are inherently capable of carrying nuclear weapons. In fact, as one expert told the Foreign Affairs Committee, ``no country that has not aspired to possess nuclear weapons has ever opted to sustain'' a lengthy and expensive missile program. I would take issue with that. I do know of one exception to that rule. That exception was South Africa under the apartheid regime, which did develop the atomic weapon. It is an example of how sanctions can be successful, because when we passed sanctions here, the consequence was they made a decision to turn that weapon back over to the IAEA, as well as to allow Nelson Mandela to leave jail, and they held elections. That is the exception I know of. So whether you supported the nuclear deal or whether you opposed that nuclear deal, this other issue should concern you either way. By developing the delivery system, Iran is keeping its options open. So from those who worked on the deal, one of the architects, Jake Sullivan of the former administration, made it clear to us--and this was 2 weeks ago--that imposing costs on Iran for its continued pursuit of ballistic missiles and other destabilizing activity is ``not only necessary, but justified.'' That is one of the architects of the agreement itself. That is what this bill does. It requires a comprehensive investigation to identify and designate the companies, the banks, the individuals inside and outside of Iran which supply the regime's missiles and supply their conventional weapons programs, and it sanctions them. In doing so, it shuts out Iranian and foreign companies involved in Iran's missile program. It also shuts out the banks that back them. It shuts them out from the global financial system. This bill expands Iran sanctions that we passed and were signed into law in August with H.R. 3364, the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act. For example, while the bill that passed over the summer specifically sanctions those who materially contribute to Iran's ballistic missile program, the bill before us today goes a step further by sanctioning those that are in the business of financing Iran's efforts. The conventional weapons prohibition in the bill before us are also stronger, and let me explain why. The August legislation referenced the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms, which excludes such items as Russia's recent sale of the S-300 air defense system to Iran. The bill before us ensures that there is no such carve-out. Mr. Speaker, Members have different views on how to handle Iran's nuclear program, but when it comes to Iran's ballistic missile and conventional weapons programs, all 323 cosponsors of this bill agree: Iran has no business developing or acquiring intercontinental ballistic missiles. That is why it is so important that we pass this bill and give the administration the tools to respond. Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Ways and Means, Washington, DC, October 23, 2017. Hon. Edward R. Royce, Chairman, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Royce: I am writing with respect to H.R. 1698, the ``Iran Ballistic Missiles and International Sanctions Enforcement Act,'' on which the Committee on Ways and Means was granted an additional referral. As a result of your having consulted with us on provisions in H.R. 1698 that fall within the Rule X jurisdiction of the Committee on Ways and Means, I agree to waive formal consideration of this bill so that it may move expeditiously to the floor. The Committee on Ways and Means takes this action with the mutual understanding that we do not waive any jurisdiction over the subject matter contained in this or similar legislation, and the Committee will be appropriately consulted and involved as the bill or similar legislation moves forward so that we may address any remaining issues that fall within our jurisdiction. The Committee also reserves the right to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees to any House-Senate conference involving this or similar legislation, and requests your support for such request. Finally, I would appreciate your response to this letter confirming this understanding, and would ask that a copy of our exchange of letters on this matter be included in the Congressional Record during floor consideration of H.R. 1698. Sincerely, Kevin Brady, Chairman.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. McCaul), chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security. He is a former Federal prosecutor and a senior member of our Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from California (Mr. McCarthy), the esteemed majority leader of the House.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe). He is the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield an additional 30 seconds to the gentleman.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank all our members who worked on this bill. Over the last few years, the Foreign Affairs Committee has conducted dedicated oversight of the threats posed by Iran, and we have had dozens of hearings. And whether the topic was the nuclear program, or the missile program, or Iran's support for terrorism, or the regime's human rights abuses, the conclusion was clear. The United States must respond to the full range of threats, and with this bill and the others before us, that is what we are doing here today. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Virginia (Mr. Garrett), who is a member of the Foreign Affairs and Homeland Security Committees.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lethinen), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher). He is a member of the Armed Services and Homeland Security Committees. He is also the author of this bill, along with Mr. Tom Suozzi of New York.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield the gentleman from Virginia an additional 1 minute.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the remainder of my time. Mr. Speaker, I did want to say I have had the opportunity to travel extensively with Mr. Engel and to observe him and his work here in this House for many years. He has always transcended partisanship in my view, but, more importantly, from my standpoint, he has been a servant of the national interests here and the core values of the United States of America and our attempt to represent those core values around the world. I want to take this moment, especially given his eloquent statement here about these values as he spoke about Hezbollah. These are values that I think all of us should share. The Geneva Convention, itself, establishes standards for international law, and it does so for the protection of civilians in a war zone. They specifically prohibit, under that Geneva Convention, of course, the use of civilians as human shields. It is article 58 of the Convention's additional protocols that require parties of any conflict to avoid locating military objectives within or near densely populated areas. So, to date, Hezbollah's arsenal is well over 100,000. As I shared with you, all of them are manufactured today by Iran. Those rockets and missiles of various ranges today include precision-guided missiles. I spoke earlier of 2006, the second Lebanon War. That actually should be called the Hezbollah war. At that time, as I talked about the 600 victims that were in the trauma hospital, they were down to an inventory of 10,000 missiles. Today, they have, in the hands of Hezbollah--again, because of Iran--over 100,000 such rockets and missiles. So I think, yes, Hezbollah has blatantly violated the well- established laws of armed conflict. It has targeted civilians for more than two decades in both Lebanon and Israel. As a result, both peoples are victims of Hezbollah's--and, frankly, of Iran's--brutality, and it is high time we hold them accountable. This we try to do in this legislation. Mr. Speaker, I thank, again, Mr. Engel, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 3342) to impose sanctions on foreign persons that are responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights by reason of the use by Hizballah of civilians as human shields, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members might have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to include any extraneous material in the Record.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I am rising in strong support to this Shields Act, as we call it, which sanctions Hezbollah, sanctions them for their use in southern Lebanon of not only families, but entire villages as human shields; and let me explain this. As we have discussed today, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization, Hezbollah, has constructed an entire military apparatus in the nation that sits just north of Israel's northern border in Lebanon. It is now complete with missile production facilities that are intended to strike at Israel's civilian centers. I do want to thank the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Gallagher) for his leadership because he has helped bring this critical attention to us today. But, in the process, as we talk about Hezbollah, they have placed Israeli and Lebanese civilians directly into the path of the conflict. If you go to that border, as I have done, you can see command post after command post, not manned by the Lebanese Armed Forces. Those flags you see are not Lebanese flags, they are Hezbollah battle flags. And they man those posts, surrounded by antitank and infantry positions, surrounded by underground tunnels and rocket launchers and arms depots. In short, countless Lebanese villages are, in effect, military bases, the ones that are right along that border, financed and equipped by Iran. No one has the right to sacrifice the lives of innocent women and children, and certainly not those dedicated to the twisted and evil goals of destroying the State of Israel. When I say I have seen this firsthand, in 2006, I was in Haifa during the war that Hezbollah was conducting with Israel, and Hezbollah forces used human shields extensively in a cowardly effort to protect their rocket launchers from counterattacks by Israeli forces. I watched as those rockets came into civilian populations in Haifa and exploded there, and sent those civilians to the trauma hospital. In Rambam trauma hospital, as they were bringing people in, I asked for the count that day. There were 600 victims, wounded victims of those attacks, being treated in that hospital--Arab Israelis, Jewish Israelis, Druid Israelis, all of them victims of those Hezbollah attacks. It seems--and by the way, when you see the devastation, every one of those Iranian-made missiles has 90,000 ball bearings in it, and that is what they are launching on schools, civilian areas. They attempted to hit the hospital itself. It seems that Hezbollah and its Iranian backers are willing to fight to the last villager there in their quest to annihilate the people of Israel, yet neither Hezbollah nor Iran has been held to account by responsible nations for these egregious crimes. While Foreign Minister Zarif of Iran was coddled by the EU, this issue was never raised, not by us, not by the EU. We never raised this with the Iranians as a serious issue. We have to because the willingness to overlook these human rights violations is why we find ourselves in the position that we are in today and why this legislation is critically important. This bill calls on the U.S. and its partners to hold Hezbollah and Iran accountable through targeted sanctions and appropriate action at the United Nations Security Council. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time. House of Representatives, Committee on Foreign Affairs, Washington, DC, October 23, 2017. Hon. Bob Goodlatte, Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary, Washington, DC. Dear Chairman Goodlatte: Thank you for consulting with the Foreign Affairs Committee and agreeing to be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3342, Sanctioning Hizballah's Illicit Use of Civilians as Defenseless Shields Act, so that the bill may proceed expeditiously to the House floor. I agree that your forgoing further action on this measure does not in any way diminish or alter the jurisdiction of your committee, or prejudice its jurisdictional prerogatives on this resolution or similar legislation in the future. I would support your effort to seek appointment of an appropriate number of conferees from your committee to any House-Senate conference on this legislation. I will seek to place our letters on H.R. 3342 into the Congressional Record during floor consideration of the bill. I appreciate your cooperation regarding this legislation and look forward to continuing to work together as this measure moves through the legislative process. Sincerely, Edward R. Royce, Chairman.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from California (Mr. Rohrabacher), the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. In summing up here, the focus of this legislation is clearly to seek to end a practice which many in the international community find a vexing one, and that is it tries to ensure that the loans that are given to the Government of Nicaragua meet certain democratic benchmarks before issuing any loans that would specifically benefit those in the government. There is a carve-out, as I shared, for any humanitarian loans. I think the reason this approach has gained bipartisan support is because the United States, in this instance, will be engaged still, but engaged in a way where we are not encouraging corruption. I say that because it pushes Nicaragua to allow for free and transparent elections, and that should be our goal. That is the goal of other election observers who have been involved in the past and have expressed their concerns about the state of play there. Mr. Speaker, I thank the authors, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 2 minutes. Mr. Speaker, I think it is important, when we consider the challenge that we have here, the Carter Center was involved in Nicaragua trying to oversee the election there. They came to the conclusion that the election was not transparent. The elections were not fair in Nicaragua. The European Union was engaged in trying to monitor those elections. Again, the same conclusion. The Organization of American States, it is the standard or it is the organization representing all of the governments in this hemisphere, they again raised the same issue. When we think what we are trying to do here, the goal is, first, any loans that go to the benefit of the people of Nicaragua, that is exempt anyway. From the humanitarian standpoint, we want them to have the loans. But if we are going to make a loan that benefits the head of state or the government and, as part of that, we put the same conditions that the OAS puts on member loans, the same conditions that we put on other countries with respect to the rule of law or with respect to transparency and free and fair elections, I don't think that that is unusual in the least. As a matter of fact, those are the conditions we apply. The attempt to focus on this and our frustration with it is to give that added boost, just as the Carter Center is trying to do, just as the European Union is trying to weigh in, just as the OAS is suggesting as we go forward that there be these reforms and transparency. I think it is proper that this institution does the same. I think the carve-out we put in the bill for humanitarian aid addresses the other issues. So from that standpoint, I think it is necessary for us to do what we can at this time to nudge this back toward free and fair elections.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 6 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen) who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, and is the author of this legislation.

Mr. ROYCE of California. I yield the gentlewoman an additional 2 minutes.

Mr. ROYCE of California

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentlewoman from Florida (Ms. Ros-Lehtinen), who chairs the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.

Mr. ROYCE of California. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, we are surrounded here by former teachers today who have brought this bill, who have worked with us to bring this bill to the House floor, and we understand their impulse to reach out to these young children and try to see to it that they have an equal chance out in the world. This is something that teachers do, and this focus on young girls, especially young girls in the most vulnerable situation, as a result of conflict in those regions making them at risk for trafficking, for exploitation or being child brides, these former teachers understand the importance of having a program directed specifically to this problem. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Chabot); the gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Kelly.); certainly, Albio Sires, our ranking member on the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee; and Ms. Ros- Lehtinen, of course, as chairman, for helping to ensure that international humanitarian efforts are prioritizing this issue of access to education for girls. By improving coordination between the State Department, USAID, the private sector, and multilateral organizations, what this bill is going to do is to improve the chances that these young lives will be able to blossom above the ashes of war, above these conflicts that rage in these spots around the world, so that they might reach their full potential. If they do, they will be able to help the next generation. Mr. Speaker, I ask every Member for their support, and I yield back the balance of my time.