{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://roby.house.gov/column/behavior-toward-iran-baffling", "Behavior Toward Iran Baffling", "2016-09-23", "2016", "2016-09", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Martha Roby", "R000591", "roby.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "As more details surface about the Obama Administration\u2019s decision to pay Iran $1.7 billion in settlement money, arguments that it was anything less than an ill-conceived ransom deal are becoming pretty flimsy.\u00a0\nIn January,\u00a0President Obama announced the United States had reached a settlement with Iran\u00a0over a decades-long arms deal dispute, in which $1.7 billion would be transferred from a Treasury fund set up to cover court judgments and settlements. Even though the deal directly coincided with Iran\u2019s release of five Americans it was holding hostage, the President and other Administration officials repeatedly denied that this deal was a ransom payment.\u00a0\nHowever, such denials proved phony when, in August,\u00a0The Wall Street Journal\u00a0reported in stunning detail\u00a0how the first installment actually took place. \"Wooden palletes stacked with Euros, Swiss francs, and other foreign currencies were flown into Iran on an unmarked cargo plan,\u201d the story said. The plane reportedly sat on the tarmac until U.S. officials confirmed the release of American hostages. That\u2019s pretty much the definition of a ransom.\u00a0\nWhy does it matter? Because paying a ransom would violate long-standing U.S. policy, including President Obama\u2019s own.\u00a0Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 30, released by the White House in June 2015, states that \u201cIt is United States policy to deny hostage-takers the benefits of ransom, prisoner releases, policy changes, or other acts of concession.\u201d\nWhy is it important for our country not to pay ransoms? Because it endangers Americans. As the PPD goes on to say,\u00a0\n\u201cThis policy protects U.S. nationals and strengthens national security by removing a key incentive for hostage-takers to target U.S. nationals, thereby interrupting the vicious cycle of hostage-takings, and by helping to deny terrorists and other malicious actors the money, personnel, and other resources they need to conduct attacks against the United States, its nationals, and its interests.\u201d\nAlmost as if to prove this point, since the cash shipment, Iran\u2019s Revolutionary Guard has detained two more Iranian-Americans,\u00a0according to\u00a0The Wall Street Journal. And why wouldn\u2019t they, seeing as how\u00a0Iran\u2019s military will now apparently be the beneficiary of the $1.7 billion\u00a0influx from the United States. Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,\u00a0told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he found this development \u201ctroubling\u201d\u00a0because it would enable Iran\u2019s military to spread \u201cmalign influence.\u201d\u00a0Unfortunately,\u00a0President Obama did not consult\u00a0with Gen. Dunford - his top uniformed military commander - or Secretary of Defense Ash Carter about the payment scheme before this critical decision was made.\u00a0\nThese latest revelations have prompted Congress to act. This week the House passed\u00a0H.R. 5931, the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act, which essentially codifies into law the policy against ransom payments. I wish it wasn\u2019t necessary to enact a new law in order to stop a president from executing foreign transactions that go against long-standing policies put in place to protect Americans. However, given President Obama\u2019s baffling behavior toward Iran, Congressional action is absolutely necessary.", 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": ["http://roby.house.gov/column/behavior-toward-iran-baffling"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3222498819231987, "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"}