{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://cook.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-paul-cook-votes-to-publicize-and-combat-iranian-government", "Rep. Paul Cook Votes to Publicize and Combat Iranian Government Corruption", "2017-12-13", "2017", "2017-12", "Republican", "House", "CA", "Paul Cook", "C001094", "cook.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON-\u00a0\u00a0 Rep. Paul Cook (R-Apple Valley) today voted for HR 1638, the Iranian Leadership Asset Transparency Act. The bill passed the House with bipartisan support.\nThe US State Department classifies Iran as the world\u2019s \u201cforemost state sponsor of terrorism\u201d and a country of \u201cprimary concern\u201d for money laundering. This legislation requires the Department of Treasury to provide a report on steps that can be taken to prevent the financing of terrorism, money laundering, or related illicit finance and to help clarify the ways that financial institutions and legitimate businesses can comply with existing sanctions. The report would detail assets under control of the Iranian regime\u2019s leadership, how the assets were acquired, and how they are being used by Iran\u2019s top military and political leaders. The report would be submitted to Congress and available on the Treasury\u2019s website in English as well as the three main languages used in Iran: Farsi, Arabic, and Azeri.\nMany members of Iran\u2019s senior political and military leadership have acquired significant personal wealth by using their positions to secure control of major portions of the Iranian national economy. This bill will provide public reporting on the sources and uses of concentrated wealth held by top Iranian leaders and will help businesses throughout the world avoid doing business with leaders who support terrorism.\nRep. Cook said, \u201cThis bill will help us to identify the assets of Iran\u2019s tyrannical leaders which have been used to support terrorism against the US and our allies. By identifying these\u00a0 assets, we can better combat Iranian money laundering schemes and will help us to revise US sanctions to make them more effective at preventing Iranian officials from using funds to support terror and develop ballistic missile technology.\u201d\nA member of the House Natural Resources, Armed Services, and Foreign Affairs Committees, Cook served as an infantry officer and retired after 26 years as a Colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps. During his time in combat, he was awarded the Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.", 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://cook.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-paul-cook-votes-to-publicize-and-combat-iranian-government"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9600489865988493, "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"}