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As I mentioned in last week’s newsletter, the United States secretly paid Iran $400 million in cash just as several innocent American hostages were released in exchange for the United States granting clemency to and releasing seven Iranians serving sentences or awaiting trial for serious crimes such as aiding Iran’s illegal weapons programs. Not surprisingly, Iran has since taken several more Americans hostage and continues to fund terrorist groups that threaten U.S. interests and destabilize the Middle East.
This week the House passed H.R. 5931, the No More Cash Ransoms to Iran, which makes clear that the Obama administration violated longstanding U.S. policy by releasing prisoners and paying ransom for the return of Americans held hostage by Iran. It prohibits all cash payments to Iran and demands transparency on any future settlements with Iran to ensure they are not used to pay ransom.
Iran is characterized by high levels of official and institutional corruption with many members of Iran’s senior political and military leadership acquiring significant personal and institutional wealth by using their positions to secure control of major portions of the Iranian national economy. The nuclear agreement with Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terror, has resulted in the removal of many of these entities tied to government corruption from the list that face sanctions from the United States.
H.R. 5461, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act, which the House also passed this week, requires the Treasury Secretary to develop and post online a list estimating the “funds and assets” held by senior Iranian political and military leaders, along with a description of how they acquired the assets and how those assets are employed. The report would be posted on the Treasury Department’s website in English as well as the three main languages used inside Iran and would be available in a way that is easy to download and share. This legislation will help financial institutions and private businesses comply with money laundering and related laws as well as choose whom they decide to do business with more carefully.
Helping American Families and Businesses
House Republicans continue to tackle the many challenges facing American families and businesses. This week we passed a number of bills help get our nation back on track.
H.R. 5613, the Continuing Access to Hospitals Act of 2016, protects access to high-quality health care in rural communities by stopping enforcement of a rule requiring physicians to supervise outpatient therapies at Critical Access Hospitals and other small, rural hospitals. If enforced, the CMS rule would put a severe strain on many of the rural providers that people rely on for affordable, high-quality care. Without access to these facilities, people would be forced to travel farther to get the outpatient care they need.
Many federal regulations impose significant cost to the economy as soon as they are implemented. H.R. 3438, the Require Evaluation before Implementing Executive Wishlists (REVIEW) Act, prevents agencies from forcing businesses to needlessly spend resources to meet costly regulations that are subsequently thrown out by the courts.
H.R. 5523, the Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act, protects small business owners from IRS abuse and helps ensure their assets are not wrongly seized under civil asset forfeiture policies. It requires the IRS to show probable cause that funds were derived from an illegal source and institutes a post-seizure hearing for people whose assets were seized.
H.R. 5719, the Empowering Employees through Stock Ownership Act, encourages employee ownership in America’s innovative startup companies by making it easier for employees on all levels to utilize stock options or equity interests offered.
Small businesses employ about half of the private sector workforce but they often lack the resources or technical expertise to prevent cyber attacks. H.R. 5064, the Improving Small Business Cyber Security Act of 2016, gives small businesses additional tools, resources and expertise to prevent attacks through existing federal cyber strategy.
H.R. 5320, the Social Security MAIL Act, protects Americans from identity theft by requiring the Social Security Administration to remove Social Security numbers from mailed documents unless they are absolutely necessary and to justify when it is necessary to include them on mailed documents.
Overtime Rule Will Stifle Workplace Flexibility
On Tuesday I spoke on the House floor in opposition to the Department of Labor’s final overtime rule, which is another egregious example of the burdensome regulations that continue to hamper our economic recovery and hold North Carolina families back. By stifling workplace flexibility, threatening upward mobility and burdening small businesses, unelected Washington bureaucrats are harming the employees they claim they want to help.
Our nation’s overtime rules need to be modernized, but the Department of Labor’s extreme and partisan approach will lead to damaging consequences that the American people simply cannot afford. I will continue to fight for a more balanced and responsible approach to updating federal overtime rules.
What’s Coming Up
Next week the House will consider the Water Resources Development Act, which provides oversight over Army Corps of Engineers water infrastructure projects. The House will also consider legislation funding the government into Fiscal Year 2017, which will begin on October 1.
Sincerely,
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