Chairman Burgess Opening Remarks on Several Measures Supporting Israel and H.R. 4639

As prepared for delivery:

Good afternoon.

Israel is under attack. Iran fired upwards of 170 drones, more than 30 cruise missiles, and over 120 ballistic missiles towards our greatest friend, major non-NATO ally, and lone democracy in the region on Saturday. Congress must show the world Israel has a right to defend itself. America fully stands behind the Israeli people and will not hesitate to provide them with the latitude and tools they need to beat back yet another threat to their very existence.
 
H. Res. 1143 denounces Iran’s brazen and unprecedented act of aggression and ensures the House’s position on it is crystal clear. We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to show the world we unequivocally condemn Saturday’s unconscionable act of escalation.
 
The House must also confront a disturbing reality—without unequivocal support for Israel, President Biden has appeased Iran putting us on the trajectory to this dark hour.
 
Less than a year after Hamas brutally murdered more than 1,000 Israelis and took hundreds of hostages, including American citizens on October 7th, President Biden: 1) signaled his willingness to break with Prime Minister Netanyahu on a hot mic on the House floor, 2) issued a press release calling for an immediate one-sided cease-fire in Gaza, and 3) failed to use our veto as a member of the United Nations Security Council to stop an anti-Israel cease-fire resolution. For decades, America’s ironclad backing of the Jewish state was its bedrock of security. Now, thanks to his vacillation, that bedrock is shattered, and Iran was emboldened to directly attack Israel from its own territory for the very first time.
 
The President also has a long history of appeasing Iran with sanctions relief—unlocking funds for the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. In November 2023 alone, his administration reissued a sanctions waiver, most recently renewed last month, that gave Iran access to more than $10 billion. H.R. 5947 will rescind certain waivers and licenses the White House could use to circumvent the will of Congress on this matter and the matter of the $6 billion in sanction relief for hostage negotiations in September of 2023.
 
H.R. 6323, the Iran Counterterrorism Act prevents President Biden from continuing this trend of financial appeasement by requiring Iran to have ceased support for acts of international terror as a prerequisite for the administration to waive secondary sanctions. This bill also provides for a congressional review process for national security interest waivers of these sanctions.
 
Additionally, H.R. 4691, the Iranian Sanctions Relief Review Act, will ensure that the president submits any sanctions relief relating to Iran for congressional review. The legislation would provide a backstop if the Executive Branch attempts to evade the legal requirements for congressional review of any agreement related to Iran’s nuclear program contained in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act.
 
Iran is not alone in its assault on our steadfast ally. The Houthi movement is one of the Ayatollah’s valued terror partners and joined this weekend’s air assault, launching several drones with intent to harm Israel.
 
For months they have also been harassing international shipping and American assets in the region. President Trump had the good sense to designate them as a terrorist organization in 2021. President Biden’s State Department recklessly rescinded that designation during his first week in office, only to embarrassingly reverse course this year. H.R. 6046, the Standing Against Houthi Aggression Act, provides a more comprehensive Foreign Terrorist Organization designation.
 
I look forward to joining my colleagues in supporting these efforts to back Israel, condemn Iran and its terrorist proxies, and stop the White House campaign of appeasement.
 
Finally, we’ll consider H.R. 4639, the Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act. This prevents law enforcement and intelligence agencies from buying Americans’ personal data from third party brokers. I look forward to hearing the perspectives of my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee on the important issue of data privacy.

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