{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-colleagues-urge-biden-administration-to-enforce-iran-steel-sanctions/", "Young, Colleagues Urge Biden Administration to Enforce Iran Steel Sanctions", "2023-12-05", "2023", "2023-12", "Republican", "Senate", "IN", "Todd Young", "Y000064", "www.young.senate.gov", "toddyoung", "https://www.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2013 U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.), Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), and a group of over 30 senators sent a letter to President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen urging the Treasury Department to enforce existing sanctions on Iranian steel.\n\nIn the letter, the senators express the importance of \u201cproactively and continuously\u201d enforcing sanctions and the detrimental consequences of ineffective \u2013 or willfully negligent \u2013 enforcement. Iran is one of the largest steel producing countries in the world, with the industry generating significant funds via exports.\n\n\u201cIn 2020, the United States sanctioned Iran\u2019s metals industries and steel producers, massively impacting their exports in 2021. The enforcement of these sanctions decreased Iranian steel exports from 9 million metric tons in 2020 to 4.2 million tons in 2021. However, Iranian steel exports rebounded to 10 million tons in 2022. This correlates to the United States reengaging with Iran to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), along with a decrease in enforcement of existing sanctions by the Treasury Department,\u201d the senators wrote.\n\nThe senators concluded by warning that relaxed sanctions enforcement only fuels the ability of Iranian-backed terror proxies to continue barbaric attacks on innocent children, women, and men.\n\n\u201cIn this instance, relaxing sanctions enforcement resulted in economic enrichment for the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism. We urge your Administration to enforce all Iran-related sanctions at your disposal, to include secondary sanctions on other countries who seek economic engagement with Iran. We owe it to the innocent children, women, and men who were savagely beaten, raped, tortured, and killed on October 7, 2023,\u201d they wrote.\n\nIn addition to Senators Young and Britt, Senators Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) also signed the letter.\n\nThe full letter can be found here or below:\n\nThe Honorable Joseph R. Biden\n\nPresident of the United States\n\nThe White House\n\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue\n\nWashington, D.C. 20500\n\nDear President Biden:\n\nWe write to you just weeks after our nation\u2019s great ally was suddenly and barbarically attacked by Hamas terrorists\u2014proxies funded, trained, and equipped by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The pure evil inflicted on the Israeli people on October 7, 2023, will live in infamy as one of the deadliest terrorist attacks in world history.\n\nIran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism across the globe, and its stated objective is to wipe Israel off the face of the planet. It is estimated that Iran provides $700 million dollars annually to Hezbollah and $350 million annually to Hamas. Additionally, Iranian-backed terrorist proxies in Syria and Iraq have received substantial new financial support, including double digit percentage increases to the salaries paid to affiliated individuals this year alone.\n\nSince 1995, Congressionally enacted laws and Presidential executive orders have provided the Treasury Department with authorities to impose significant sanctions on Iranian proxy groups. However, enacted sanctions are only effective if the Treasury Department proactively and continuously enforces them. In recent years, we have seen the direct consequences of ineffective sanctions enforcement: Iran\u2019s economic productivity rebounded while the regime augmented its on-the-books military spending, and its access to foreign currency reserves increased ten-fold.\n\nSteel is one of Iran\u2019s most lucrative export markets. The World Steel Association announced1 in September 2023 that Iran is the 10th largest steel producer in the world. In 2020, the United States sanctioned Iran\u2019s metals industries and steel producers, massively impacting their exports in 2021. The enforcement of these sanctions decreased Iranian steel exports from 9 million metric tons in 2020 to 4.2 million tons in 2021. However, Iranian steel exports rebounded to 10 million tons in 2022. This correlates to the United States reengaging with Iran to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), along with a decrease in enforcement of existing sanctions by the Treasury Department.\n\nSanctions enforcement, when executed properly, is an effective tool against regimes that do not share our values and, as in Iran\u2019s case, have a proven track record of sponsoring terrorism. In this instance, relaxing sanctions enforcement resulted in economic enrichment for the world\u2019s largest state sponsor of terrorism.\n\nWe urge your Administration to enforce all Iran-related sanctions at your disposal, to include secondary sanctions on other countries who seek economic engagement with Iran. We owe it to the innocent children, women, and men who were savagely beaten, raped, tortured, and killed on October 7, 2023.\n\nSincerely,\n\nCc:\n\nThe Honorable Antony Blinken\n\nSecretary of State\n\nU.S. Department of State\n\n2201 C Street N.W.\n\nWashington, D.C. 20520", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:56:20Z"]], "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.young.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/young-colleagues-urge-biden-administration-to-enforce-iran-steel-sanctions/"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3278259430080652, "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"}