WASHINGTON DISPATCHES

Hall Says He’s Fighting Terror

Congressman John Hall successfully introduced and supported legislation that passed recently in the House of Representatives.

The bill is quite simple. In the language of the bill itself, it aims “To amend the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995 to prohibit any person from performing lobbying activities on behalf of a client which is determined by the Secretary of State to be a State sponsor of terrorism.”

The congressman representing New York’s 19th congressional district sees this piece of legislation as a crucial step to fighting terrorism, as he touted its passage on his website under this headline: “Bill will keep terrorist interests out of U.S. policy.”

Before this bill passed, United States law prevented “foreign nationals from making contributions in connection with any federal, state, or local election; contributing to a political party committee; or funding electioneering communications. Campaigns cannot solicit donations from foreign nationals under the present law as well,” the congressman’s website helpfully explains.

“We cannot allow hostile foreign governments to exercise any control over American elections,” said Rep. Hall in a statement from his office that praises himself for spearheading the passage of this bill. “Without this legislation, a government like Iran could potentially influence U.S. foreign policy, undermine our elections, and potentially put our nation at risk. Failing to act allows foreign wealth to be turned into a weapon against our democracy. American elections must be decided by Americans and U.S. policy must be decided by the U.S. government.”

The overwhelming majority of the House seems to have agreed with Rep. Hall’s sentiments: The bill passed the House by a vote of 408-4. The act will need to pass the Senate and be signed by the president in order to become the law of the land.

Iran Sanctions

The House of Representatives passed the “Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act,” which “instructs President Obama to impose broad new sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran to stem their illegal development of nuclear weapons,” according to Rep. John Hall’s office. Rep. Hall voted in favor of the legislation.

The legislation, which Hall’s House office called “the most comprehensive, stringent, and aggressive piece of Iran sanctions legislation ever considered by Congress,” seeks to prevent the theocratic Islamist regime from gaining the nuclear weapons capability it has sought for at least the last several years.

Iran is on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism. And it is widely believed that if the Iranian government were able to produce nuclear weapons, then they would disseminate them to their terror network, and use nuclear weapons, if given the chance, against their sworn enemies, including the United States and our allies.

The bill sanctions companies that do business with the rogue state. The intention of the legislation is to hurt—or cripple—the Iranian economy. Doing this successfully would, the legislators hope, sufficiently discourage the Iranian regime from furthering its nuclear weapons program. And thus passage of this bill would make the world a safer place.

“These new sanctions show that Congress and the United States are serious about thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” Congressman Hall said in a statement. “A nuclear-capable Iran would be a destabilizing presence in the region, and increase Iran’s ability to provide support to terrorist organizations who aim to kill Americans. With the passage of [this bill], there are now severe penalties for doing business with Iran, and new tools for the United States to enforce these sanctions, even in the international financial community.”

The Senate also passed the same bill. Both New York senators, Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer, voted in the favor of its passage—and the bill passed by a 99-0 margin.

Senator Gillibrand explained her reasoning for supporting the legislation: “We are sending a clear message to Iran and companies that do business with Iran that the status quo will not be tolerated. … Doing business with Iran funds the development of nuclear weapons that pose an imminent threat to America, Israel, and all of our allies. I am pleased with the action we took today to make sure no company will be allowed to put their profits before our safety.”

President Barack Obama signed the bill into law a few days later. The sanctions should become effective immediately.

World Cup to the U.S.?

Senators Gillibrand and Schumer, as well as 24 other U.S. senators, are teaming up to bring the World Cup soccer tournament to the United States. The senators coauthored a letter, which they sent to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), asking for the United States to be considered as a host site for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

The senators seem confident that this is what the American people want. In their letter, they wrote: “With a population of 300 million people, we assure you that there will be no lack of fans clamoring to attend the matches.”

The United State last hosted the World Cup in 1994. According to Senator Gillibrand’s office, that tournament averaged 68,991 fans per game, and “more than 3.5 million fans turned out to witness the matches.”

The World Cup is currently being held in South Africa. The U.S. national team was eliminated in the round of 16 by Ghana’s national team.

Waving Byrd Good-Bye

Senators Schumer and Gillibrand made the trip to West Virginia July 2 to pay respect to their late colleague— West Virginia’s senior Senator Robert Byrd. Byrd’s tenure in the Senate was controversial because he was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. Senator Byrd will be remembered as the longest-serving senator ever, having spent more than half a century in the legislative body.