{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://byrne.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/byrne-votes-to-end-ransom-payments-to-iran", "Byrne Votes to End Ransom Payments to Iran", "2016-09-23", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Bradley Byrne", "B001289", "byrne.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-AL), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, voted last night in favor of H.R. 5931, the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act.\nThe bill would prohibit future cash payments to Iran until the nation stops sponsoring terrorism and is no longer involved in money laundering. The bill also requires 30-day Congressional notification and review of any future settlements related to the U.S. Iran Claims Tribunal.\nIn a speech from the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Byrne helped lead debate on the bill. In his remarks, Byrne outlined a series of concerns with the cash payments to Iran.\nByrne said: \u201cIran is no friend of the United States, and their efforts have resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens and service members. So why in the world is the United States sending them cash payments in the first place?\n\u201cUltimately, the United States cannot continue to give in to Iran. Whether it is their nuclear program or their kidnapping of U.S. citizens, we simply cannot keep making \u2018deals\u2019 with Iran in which the Ayatollah benefits and the American people suffer.\u201d\nThe legislation passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 254 to 163.\nBelow is a complete transcript of Rep. Byrne\u2019s remarks in support of the legislation.\nByrne said: \u201cOn June 24, 2015, President Obama stood in the Roosevelt Room of the White House and said \u201cI am reaffirming that the United States government will not make concessions, such as paying ransom, to terrorist groups holding American hostages.\u201d\n\u201cThis position shouldn\u2019t have been surprising. It has long been the position of the U.S. government to not pay ransoms to terrorist organizations, for doing so only encourages further kidnappings and puts more American lives at risk.\n\u201cDespite this reassurance from President Obama, on January 17, 2016, an unmarked cargo plane landed at a European airport. On this plane were wooden pallets stacked with unmarked, foreign currency\u2013 $400 million worth to be exact. Who was waiting at the airport to accept this money? Iran.\n\u201cOn that exact same day, several Americans who had been held prisoner in Iran were released. \n\u201cThat, Mr. Speaker, is a ransom payment.\n\u201cSince then, we have learned that the full U.S. payment to Iran totaled $1.7 billion. The money was related to a decades old dispute about an Iranian arms sale. \n\u201cThere are a lot of concerning issues at play here.\n\u201cFirst, by giving money to Iran, the United States is supporting the world\u2019s leading state sponsor of terrorism. \n\u201cIran uses their money and resources to support groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and other radical terrorist groups in Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. \n\u201cIran is no friend of the United States, and their efforts have resulted in the deaths of U.S. citizens and service members. So why in the world is the United States sending them cash payments in the first place?\u00a0 \n\u201cSecond, the United States should never pay a ransom. I know they claim that the $1.7 billion payment was a \u2018settlement,\u2019 but let\u2019s get real for a minute. The payment was made on the exact same day the Americans were released. \n\u201cLet\u2019s look in the dictionary for a minute. Ransom is defined as \u2018a sum of money or other payment demanded or paid for the release of a prisoner.\u2019 That is exactly what happened here. \n\u201cIran knows it was a ransom payment. An Iranian general is quoted as saying that \u2018the money was returned for the freedom of the U.S. spy and it was not related to the [nuclear] negotiations.\u2019\n\u201cSo Iran knows it was a ransom, the American people know it was ransom. Well how about the State Department?\n\u201cWhen pushed on this topic by the media, a Statement Department spokesman said that it wasn\u2019t ransom but rather \u2018leverage.\u2019 What is the difference?\n\u201cThe American prisoners in Iran were not released until the cash payments occurred. You can try to hide the truth by calling it \u2018leverage\u2019 or a \u2018coincidence.\u2019 But the fact is this payment was a ransom. \n\u201cJust ask the Obama Justice Department. Press reports indicate that Assistant Attorney General John Carlin raised the concern that the cash payment to Iran would send a signal to Iran and the world that the U.S. had changed its ransom policy.\n\u201cThis isn\u2019t some radical conspiracy theory we are talking about here. This is the exact same concern raised by President Obama\u2019s own Justice Department.\n\u201cSince this ransom payment occurred, Iran has detained several more foreign citizens, including Americans, French, British, and Canadian citizens. Sadly, I expect our Iranian friends are already making their ransom demands.\n\u201cThe third major concern I have is that the payments were clearly done in way to hide them from the American public. The payments were made in cash. \n\u201cAccording to an international body responsible for combating money laundering known as the Financial Action Task Force, the \u2018physical transportation of currency\u2019 is \u2018one of the main methods used to move criminal assets, launder money and finance terrorism.\u2019\n\u201cIf this whole ordeal was public and on the \u2018up and up,\u2019 then why did the U.S. make this payment in cash? \n\u201cNow, the Obama Administration originally said that the payment had to be in cash because financial sanctions prevent us from engaging in wire transfers with Iranian banks. \n\u201cWell, turns out that isn\u2019t true. In fact, on at least two occasions, the U.S. has made wire transfers to the Iranian government.\n\u201cAccording to Politico, in July 2015, the U.S. sent Iran approximately $848,000 to settle a claim over architectural drawings. The wire transfers didn\u2019t stop there though. The U.S. wired Iran almost $10 million in April of this year to pay for 32 metric tons of heavy water.\n\u201cHere is another issue with the cash payments: Iran has a track record of money laundering and making cash payments will result in it being even harder to track their illicit activity. \n\u201cCash does not have an electronic signature, so the money could eventually become untraceable. This will make it almost impossible for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to track where the money is going.\n\u201cIn other words, the cash could be transferred to a group like Hamas or Hezbollah and the United States may never know. That is deeply troubling.\n\u201cSo, Mr. Speaker, this legislation makes one thing crystal clear: the United States government is not in the business of paying ransom. \n\u201cSpecific to Iran, the legislation would prohibit future cash payments to Iran until the nation stops sponsoring terrorism and is no longer involved in money laundering. \n\u201cTo boost transparency and accountability, the legislation also requires 30-day Congressional notification and review of any future settlements related to the U.S. Iran Claims Tribunal. This way Congress will have an opportunity to review any future payments instead of them being secretly executed in the dark of night.\n\u201cUltimately, the United States cannot continue to give in to Iran. Whether it is their nuclear program or their kidnapping of U.S. citizens, we simply cannot keep making \u2018deals\u2019 with Iran in which the Ayatollah benefits and the American people suffer.\n\u201cWe need to stop empowering Iran and instead start weakening them. We must stop giving in to Iran and start standing up to Iran.\u00a0 By putting our foot down, the American people and our allies in the Middle East will be safer and stronger.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://byrne.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/byrne-votes-to-end-ransom-payments-to-iran"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1438310611993074, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}