Bills
| 3.23.22

Putting Sanctions on Hezbollah’s Financial Network (H.R. 2297)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 2297?

(Updated October 21, 2019)

This bill was enacted on December 18, 2015

This bill aims to curb financial support for Hezbollah, the Shi'a Islamist militant group and Lebanese political party, and it's media affiliate Al-Manar.

The Treasury and State Departments would either prohibit or impose strict conditions on foreign financial institutions that do business with Hezbollah. These sanctions would prevent the banks and their customers from opening accounts in the U.S. Foreign banks could trigger these sanctions by:

  • Knowingly facilitating a significant transaction or transactions for Hezbollah.

  • Transacting business with person who is associated with Hezbollah or acts on the behalf of Hezbollah.

  • Engaging in money laundering or facilitating, assisting, or conspiring to participate in transactions related to either of the above actions.

Exemptions/waivers for these sanctions would be available to the Treasury State Departments if they decide sanctions on these institutions poses a threat to national security. These exemptions would have to be explained to the related congressional committees.

Reports would be compiled on Hezbollah’s narcotics trafficking, its status as an international terrorist organization, and foreign governments’ attempts to disrupt Hezbollah’s financial network. There would also be reports on broadcasters sanctioned that carry Al-Manar TV network.

Rewards would be made available for information about Hezbollah’s fundraising, financing, and money laundering activities.

Argument in favor

Sanctioning financial institutions that do business with Hezbollah will cut off their access to the funding they use to carry out terror attacks and acquire weapons.

Argument opposed

Sanctions help, but Hezbollah will always find ways to get the money that it needs to finance its networks. Congress should pursue more effective solutions.

Impact

Financial institutions that facilitate or plan to facilitate financial transactions for Hezbollah, the Treasury Department, the State Department, and Congress.

Cost of H.R. 2297

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: The U.S., Israel, Canada, France, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Netherlands all designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile — the EU, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand all have sanctioned Hezbollah’s military wing or external security organization as terrorist entities.

Many believe that Hezbollah’s annual fundraising comes to a total in the hundreds of millions of dollars, with Iran being a primary contributor. Some estimates have pegged Iran as accounting for between 70 and 90 percent of Hezbollah’s annual income, estimated between $800 million and $1 billion.

After its predecessor in the 113th Congress passed the House on a vote of 404 to 0 but stalled in the Senate, this bill passed the House by an even greater margin with a 423 to 0 vote.

Sponsoring Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA) described the rationale behind his legislation after its passage, saying that:

“To cut Hezbollah’s international reach, and deny it the funds needed for its terrorist activities, we must effectively target its financial networks. This legislation targets the ability of Hezbollah to finance its destructive activities.”

Of Note:

Hezbollah is the group responsible for the bombings of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, and the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, in addition to the kidnapping, torture, and murder of a CIA Station Chief named William Buckley.

Hezbollah has also hijacked airliners, and carried out numerous attacks on Israelis and Jews around the world.


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user upyernoz)