Ten days ago, as Israeli families celebrated the Sabbath and Jewish holiday, Iran’s terrorist proxy Hamas launched a barbaric surprise attack against Israel, killing at least 1,400 Israelis and 30 Americans. Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli cities and then infiltrated communities to massacre mothers, fathers, children, and grandparents.
It was the deadliest day for the Jewish people since American GIs liberated the final concentration camps of the Third Reich.
Hamas terrorists raped women, paraded corpses through the streets, and posted their crimes on social media. They burned families alive. And they murdered babies.
In this time of horror and grief, my prayers are with the people of Israel. And I know I’m not alone. Upon hearing the dark news last Saturday, God-fearing Americans across the country knelt in prayer for the people of Israel. I believe all of Israel was uplifted by the prayers of our people for theirs that day.
But like Israelis, Americans don’t remain on bended knee for long. And let me remind you that Hamas also massacred 30 Americans—and may hold as many as 13 hostages—making it one of the worst terror attacks against America in recent times. We have to avenge those deaths and do everything possible to bring those missing Americans home.
We stand squarely with Israel and its objective to destroy Hamas—not only as a terror group, but as a governing entity and social movement.
But Hamas did not act alone. And it should not pay the price alone.
Hamas wouldn’t exist at its scale and savagery without Iran. Iran funds Hamas’s political organization in Gaza. Iran assisted Hamas in manufacturing the rockets and drones it used on October 7. And Iran trained many of the Hamas terrorists who organized and executed these attacks.
Most damning, according to the Wall Street Journal, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps helped plot the attack against Israel, and Iran’s Foreign Minister even attended meetings with Hamas and the IRGC to discuss the attacks.
Yet, President Biden could soon hand the terrorist regime in Tehran another $6 billion in cash.
Joe Biden has already given the ayatollahs $90 billion through his lax enforcement of oil sanctions and his unfreezing of Iranian assets. Tehran has predictably used this Biden Dividend to strengthen its military and arm its proxies. Just last year, Iran doubled the budget of the Revolutionary Guard Corps—the shock troops of its terror regime. And it more than tripled its support for Hamas’s military brigades.
Worse, since President Biden took office, Iran and its proxies have attacked American troops more than 83 times, it has armed Russia in its war on Ukraine, and helped orchestrate the worst terrorist attack since September 11.
The last thing we should do is give Iran another $6 billion in a dangerous ransom payment for American hostages.
Under public and Congressional pressure, the Biden administration purported to delay the release of this $6 billion in concert with Qatar, where the money is now located. But color me skeptical of a “quiet understanding” between a soft-on-Iran Joe Biden and a soft-on-Hamas government of Qatar, especially since the administration refuses to freeze the funds and reserves the right to release the $6 billion at any time without notifying Congress or the public.
That’s why Senator McConnell and I have introduced a bill to prevent President Biden from making this $6 billion payment to Iran. It rescinds the sanctions waiver issued by Joe Biden and Tony Blinken, locking down those funds and preventing the Iranian regime from withdrawing them.
Like Barack Obama before him, President Biden can’t be trusted when it comes to Iran. Appeasement and accommodation are instinctual for them. Whether it takes days, weeks, or months, Joe Biden will revert to form. This legislation would stop such a predictable reversal.
Many of my Democratic colleagues have joined Senator McConnell and me to call for the freezing of this $6 billion. Understandably so, since it means Iran will have an extra $6 billion to support Hamas, to expand the Revolutionary Guard Corps, and to accelerate its nuclear program. So, will they allow this bill to pass today? Or are they all talk on the campaign trail and no action here in the Senate? Let’s find out.
