{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-colleagues-demand-answers-from-biden-administration-on-latest-iran-sanctions-waiver", "Crapo, Colleagues Demand Answers from Biden Administration on Latest Iran Sanctions Waiver", "2023-11-30", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "ID", "Mike Crapo", "C000880", "www.crapo.senate.gov", "crapo", "https://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) joined Senator Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) and colleagues in sending a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to encourage conducting needed oversight over the administration\u2019s lack of a cohesive Iran strategy given the recent decision to extend an Iran sanctions waiver. As Israel continues to battle Iranian-backed Hamas and the regime\u2019s proxies increase their attacks against U.S. personnel in the region, the Biden Administration on November 13 issued a waiver providing Iran access to approximately $10 billion.\n\n\u201cA strong signal of deterrence\u2014utilizing military, economic, and diplomatic tools\u2014is needed if we want to stop the attacks against U.S. personnel and prevent the war in Gaza from expanding into a protracted regional conflict. Unfortunately, the administration\u2019s military and economic responses to Iran and its proxies have not only been disproportionate, they appear to be completely disjointed,\u201d wrote the Senators. \u201cWe therefore request that your departments provide us with a classified assessment on the administration\u2019s plan to deter Iranian aggression and prevent the escalation of conflict in the Middle East. This assessment should include an estimation of how Iran has already leveraged\u2014and could in the future leverage\u2014against U.S. persons and interests the tens of billions in assets it now has access to due to your administration\u2019s use of U.S. sanctions waivers and is to be provided in a member or staff-level briefing no later than December 7, 2023.\u201d\n\nOn August 18, 2023, 26 Republican Senators demanded answers from the administration after it released approximately $6 billion in frozen assets to Iran in exchange for American prisoners.\n\nSenators Crapo and Scott are joined by Senators Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Katie Britt (R-Alaska), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Deb Fischer (R-Nebraska).\n\nRead the full letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T01:01:09Z"]], "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://www.crapo.senate.gov/media/newsreleases/crapo-colleagues-demand-answers-from-biden-administration-on-latest-iran-sanctions-waiver"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7951059378683567, "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"}