RELEASE: Gottheimer Leads 46 Bipartisan Members in a Letter Requesting the Administration Utilize All Tools to Crack Down on Hezbollah’s International Financing Network

WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Monday, August 5, 2024, U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) led a bipartisan letter signed by forty-six bipartisan Members of Congress to Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Department of State Secretary Blinken, and Department of Justice Attorney General Garland, requesting that the Administration fully utilize all tools at its disposal to crack down on Hezbollah’s international financing network, including the imposition of sanctions.

The signatory list of forty-six bipartisan Members of Congress includes Reps. Gottheimer (NJ-5), Auchincloss (MA-4), Bacon (NE-2), Caraveo (CO-8), Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Ciscomani (AZ-6), Cohen (TN-9), Costa (CA-21), Craig (MN-2), Cuellar (TX-28), Davis (NC-1), D’Esposito (NY-4), Frankel (FL-22), Golden (ME-2), Gooden (TX-5), Kean (NJ-7), Landsman (OH-1), Lee (NV-3), Malliotakis (NY-11), Manning (NC-6), Molinaro (NY-19), Moskowitz (FL-23), Nickel (NC-13), Panetta (CA-19), Pettersen (CO-7), Phillips (MN-3), Rose (TN-6), Self (TX-3), Schiff (CA-30), Schneider (IL-10), Scott (GA-13), Slotkin (MI- 7), Soto (FL-9), Stanton (AZ-4), Stevens (MI-11), Suozzi (NY-3), Tenney (NY-24), Titus (NV-1), Torres (CA-35), Torres (NY-15), Vargas (CA-52), Wagner (MO-2), Wasserman-Schultz (FL-25), Williams (NY-22), Wilson (SC-2), Yakym (IN-2).

“Hezbollah poses a grave threat to the security of the United States and the civilian population of Israel, maintaining a substantial arsenal of weapons, provided by Iran, that have been continually deployed against Israel’s population,” wrote forty-six bipartisan Members of Congress in a letter to Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Department of State Secretary Blinken, and Department of Justice Attorney General Garland. “It is imperative that the United States leads in this critical moment and protects its greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel.”

The forty-six members continued, “We must do more to block the financial assets of Hezbollah and the global network of criminal activity that supports its military operations.” 

Full text of the letter sent to Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Department of State Secretary Blinken, and Department of Justice Attorney General Garland can be found here and below:

August 5, 2024

The Honorable Janet Yellen                             

Secretary

Department of the Treasury

1500 Pennsylvania Ave., NW

Washington, D.C. 20220

The Honorable Antony Blinken                             

Secretary

Department of State

2201 C St., NW

Washington, D.C. 20520

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General of the United States

Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530

Dear Secretary Yellen, Secretary Blinken, and Attorney General Garland:

We are writing to request that the Administration fully utilize all tools at its disposal to crack down on Hezbollah’s international financing network, including the imposition of sanctions.  In the wake of Hezbollah’s deadly attack in Israel this past weekend, we should be reminded of Hezbollah’s stated goals. Senior officials within Hezbollah have said, “Israel is merely a tool. The main war, the real war, is with America.” We implore you to take decisive action to weaken Hezbollah’s access to financial resources used to carry out terrorism that threatens Americans, Israelis, and other allies around the world.

Hezbollah poses a grave threat to the security of the United States and the civilian population of Israel, maintaining a substantial arsenal of weapons, provided by Iran, that have been continually deployed against Israel’s population. On July 27, Hezbollah launched an attack on a soccer field that killed twelve children and teenagers, and injured dozens more, in what was the deadliest event in Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attack. The United States has formally recognized Hezbollah’s responsibility for these attacks. In addition, over the past ten months, northern Israel has come under fire from thousands of Hezbollah’s rockets, missiles, drones and mortars. More than 60,000 Israelis have had to evacuate their homes in northern Israel and it remains unsafe for them to return. It is imperative that the United States leads in this critical moment and protects its greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. 

Hezbollah remains one of the most well-equipped, well-armed terrorist organizations, most notably from the substantial support it receives from Iran. Recognizing the threat posed by Hezbollah, Congress authorized the United States government’s diplomatic and law enforcement agencies to target the vast network of criminal revenues that Hezbollah uses to support its activities. We must do more to block the financial assets of Hezbollah and the global network of criminal activity that supports its military operations. With these concerns in mind, we urge the Administration to fully implement the following sanctions regimes authorized by Congress:

• Section 102 of P.L. 114-102 (Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act), targeting financial institutions processing transactions on behalf of Hezbollah laundering its money; 

• Section 103 of the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Amendments Act of 2018 authorizing sanctions on “an agency or instrumentality of a foreign state” that provides financial backing to Hezbollah. This provision allows for sanctions against foreign governments, government officials, and state-run agencies, including the Central Bank of Iran, that financially support its terrorist activities, and their efforts to recruit, train, and expand its network of operatives; and,

• Executive Order 13224, targeting Hezbollah members and those that provide them with material support. Hezbollah has thrived financially by maintaining its close relationship with Iran and by claiming to be a provider of essential services to communities in Lebanon. The U.S. should continue to name and sanction members of the organization so that financial institutions and service providers understand the risks of doing business with these entities and individuals. 

In addition, we ask that you leverage law enforcement and diplomatic processes to put pressure on Hezbollah, including:

• Encouraging the use of the State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” program to target and collect information on potential Hezbollah terrorists. This program also encourages U.S. and international law enforcement entities to consider Hezbollah a major narcotics trafficker which remains a large revenue stream for the organization;

• Taking additional steps to prosecute Hezbollah financiers as part of a Transnational Criminal Organization. Hezbollah Western Hemisphere, is known to traffic illegal drugs, weapons, counterfeit goods, and human beings as sources of revenue, including in the Western Hemisphere. The Department of Justice should reinvigorate initiatives such as Project Cassandra which targeted Hezbollah’s global criminal revenue streams; and,

• Pressuring the European Union to fully designate Hezbollah as a terror group for the terrorism it directs and finances around the globe, including on European soil. In 2013, the European Union sanctioned what it refers to as Hezbollah’s military wing, but it has yet to formally designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. More international pressure on Hezbollah must be placed to discourage and disincentivize countries, especially in Europe, from continuing relations with Hezbollah’s members and agencies in the Lebanese government.

Once again, we urge you to please use all tools at your disposal to crack down on Hezbollah’s international financing network, in order to protect American interests around the world. Thank you for your attention to this important matter. 

Sincerely,

Members of Congress

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