{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=4F474B71-D297-49BF-9940-5117CEC30154", "Sens. Moran, Hagerty Lead Colleagues in Calling on Biden Administration to Enforce Congressionally-Mandated Sanctions on Iran", "2023-11-17", "2023", "2023-11", "Republican", "Senate", "KS", "Jerry Moran", "M000934", "www.moran.senate.gov", "moran", "https://www.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senators Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) led their colleagues in calling on President Biden to immediately enforce oil sanctions on Iran as mandated by Congress. The letter also urges the administration to permanently freeze the $6 billion funding mechanism established in September\u2019s hostage agreement with Iran.\n\n\"For far too long, Iran has evaded consequence for its complacency in funding radical terror,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cTo prevent further atrocities and to fulfill our promise of providing unwavering support to our most important ally in the Middle East, we urge your administration to take the necessary means in severing financial avenues available to Iran, specifically cracking down on oil exports.\u201d\n\nThe letter was signed by Sens. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Ted Budd (R-N.C.), Shelley Moore Capito (R- W.V.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), John Kennedy (R-La.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).\n\nThe full letter can be read here and below:\n\nDear President Biden:\n\nWe write to you during a time of global outrage and sorrow following Hamas\u2019s unprecedented massacre in Israel which has left 1,400 dead, including at least 33 Americans. Iran\u2019s fingerprints are all over the events of October 7th and ensuing escalations across the Middle East. Its leaders have provided Hamas and Hezbollah hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, weapons, and training, bolstering terrorists on Israel\u2019s borders.\n\nFor far too long, Iran has evaded consequence for its complacency in funding radical terror. To prevent further atrocities and to fulfill our promise of providing unwavering support to our most important ally in the Middle East, we urge your administration to take the necessary means in severing financial avenues available to Iran, specifically cracking down on oil exports.\n\nWe ask that you take immediate action to permanently freeze the funding mechanism established in September\u2019s hostage deal with Iran. This $6 billion would free up money for Iran to use not for the well-being of its own people but for nefarious purposes in the region and beyond. Blocking the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism from accessing this $6 billion \u2013 rescinding or revising all waivers and licensed involved \u2013 will hinder the regime\u2019s ability to support the death and destruction of our allies.\n\nWe also demand that you take immediate action to fully enforce U.S. oil sanctions and interdict Iranian oil exports. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimated that exports of crude oil and condensate from Iran fell from 2.5 million barrels per day in 2017 to a mere 400,000 in 2020 amidst the \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign. But that pressure campaign evaporated in 2021 and today is practically non-existent. Iran\u2019s crude exports alone surged to more than 2 million barrels per day in August reportedly as part of the administration\u2019s nuclear deal with Iran. That\u2019s an estimated $26 to $30 billion in additional annual revenue for Tehran.\n\nA September 2023 report from Bloomberg indicates that U.S. officials \u201chave privately acknowledged a gradual relaxation of enforcement on Iranian oil sales.\u201d Any relaxation of Congressionally-mandated sanctions against Iran while funding flows to terror organizations is wholly unacceptable.\n\nThe world is now seeing the direct result of allowing Iran\u2019s oil revenues to grow and unfreezing billions of dollars in its extraterritorial bank accounts. Congress has a responsibility to ensure sanctions are not only on the books but enforced to their fullest extent. As our trusted ally Israel endures devastation, we must prioritize enforcing all economic sanctions and restricting Iranian oil revenue.\n\n# # #", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:49:58Z"]], "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.moran.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=4F474B71-D297-49BF-9940-5117CEC30154"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3061808422207832, "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"}