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Letter to the Hon. Mike Pompeo, United States Secretary of State - Fitzpatrick Joins Overwhelming Bipartisan Majority of House Members Calls On Administration To Extend Iran Arms Embargo

Letter

By: Lois Frankel, Steny Hoyer, Nita Lowey, Ami Bera, Ted Deutch, Albio Sires, Scott Perry, Ted Lieu, Brian Mast, Hal Rogers, Dean Phillips, Tom Malinowski, Marcy Kaptur, Tim Burchett, John Curtis, Grace Napolitano, Rosa DeLauro, Mario Diaz-Balart, Jan Schakowsky, Collin Peterson, Patrick McHenry, Nydia Velázquez, Mike Turner, Mike Doyle, Jr., Mike Conaway, Eddie Johnson, Ron Kind, Brian Fitzpatrick, Stephanie Murphy, Stephen Lynch, Eliot Engel, Liz Cheney, Ted Yoho, Chris Smith, Steve Chabot, Jim Sensenbrenner, Jr., Donald Young, Juan Vargas, Greg Pence, Fred Upton, Ann Wagner, Pete King, Susan Wild, Vicente Gonzalez, Robert Aderholt, Diana DeGette, Vern Buchanan, Steve King, Richard Neal, Sam Graves, Frank Pallone, Jr., Carolyn Maloney, Tom Cole, Louie Gohmert, Kenny Marchant, Cathy Rodgers, Adam Schiff, Bill Posey, Tom Graves, Jr., Tim Walberg, Yvette Clarke, Bob Latta, Phil Roe, Rick Larsen, Rick Crawford, Joe Courtney, John Sarbanes, Chuck Fleischmann, Judy Chu, Andy Harris, Don Payne, Jr., Kevin McCarthy, Steve Scalise, Hakeem Jeffries, Kay Granger, Karen Bass, Bill Keating, Gregory Meeks, Joe Wilson, Sr., Jim Costa, Ken Buck, Steven Watkins, Jr., Andy Levin, Michael Guest, Adriano Espaillat, Guy Reschenthaler, Colin Allred, Mike Rogers, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Gus Bilirakis, John Lewis, John Shimkus, Lacy Clay, Jr., Jeff Fortenberry, Jerry Nadler, Frank Lucas, Jim Cooper, Mac Thornberry, Rob Bishop, Doris Matsui, Doug Lamborn, David Scott, Dutch Ruppersberger, Adrian Smith, Jim Jordan, Jim Langevin, Rob Wittman, Ed Perlmutter, Larry Bucshon, Jeff Duncan, Bill Flores, Terri Sewell, Bill Foster, Billy Long, Suzanne Bonamici, Jaime Herrera Beutler, Paul Cook, Raul Ruiz, Daniel Webster, Rodney Davis, Joe Kennedy III, Grace Meng, Marc Veasey, Doug LaMalfa, Gary Palmer, Jody Hice, Ben Luján, Jr., Michael McCaul, Brad Sherman, Adam Kinzinger, Lee Zeldin, David Cicilline, Ken Calvert, Francis Rooney, David Trone, Ilhan Omar, Dina Titus, Chrissy Houlahan, Ron Wright, Abigail Spanberger, Anna Eshoo, John Larson, Alcee Hastings, Sr., Mike Simpson, Jim McGovern, Virginia Foxx, Bill Pascrell, Jr., José Serrano, Greg Walden, Kevin Brady, Michael Burgess, Adam Smith, Mo Brooks, Linda Sánchez, Kathy Castor, Dan Lipinski, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Tom Reed II, Tim Ryan, Pete Olson, Jerry McNerney, Dave Loebsack, Kurt Schrader, Steve Cohen, Mike Quigley, Vicky Hartzler, Bill Johnson, Suzan DelBene, Martha Roby, Eric Swalwell, Tom McClintock, Susan Davis, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Brett Guthrie, Emanuel Cleaver II, Brian Higgins, GT Thompson, Jr., Henry Cuellar, Paul Gosar, Jim Himes, Bob Gibbs, Scott DesJarlais, Robin Kelly, Bill Huizenga, Joyce Beatty, Morgan Griffith, David Schweikert, Tony Cárdenas, Al Lawson, Jr., Doug Collins, Andy Barr, Mark Amodei, Matt Cartwright, David McKinley, Ann Kirkpatrick, Ed Case, Alma Adams, Brendan Boyle, French Hill, Lou Correa, Buddy Carter, Mike Bost, Anthony Brown, Joshua Gottheimer, Brad Wenstrup, Roger Williams, Jimmy Gomez, John Moolenaar, Elise Stefanik, Alex Mooney, Gil Cisneros, Drew Ferguson, Jim Banks, Clay Higgins, Trent Kelly, Anthony Brindisi, Mary Scanlon, Sylvia Garcia, Greg Stanton, Joe Neguse, Donna Shalala, Jim Baird, Lori Trahan, Jim Hagedorn, Andy Kim, Max Rose, Kendra Horn, John Rose, Lizzie Fletcher, Ben Cline, Mark Takano, Greg Steube, Sean Casten, G. K. Butterfield, Jr., Deb Haaland, Fred Keller, Dusty Johnson, Van Taylor, Jennifer Wexton, Mike Kelly, Jr., Steve Womack, Julia Brownley, Scott Peters, Austin Scott, Susan Brooks, Annie Kuster, Steve Stivers, Derek Kilmer, Pete Aguilar, Richard Hudson, Jr., Markwayne Mullin, Norma Torres, Val Demings, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Garret Graves, Tom Emmer, Kathleen Rice, Randy Weber, Sr., Glenn Grothman, Jimmy Panetta, Jamie Raskin, Thomas Suozzi, Dan Newhouse, Jason Crow, Abby Finkenauer, Trey Hollingsworth III, Jared Golden, Ted Budd, Joe Morelle, Joe Cunningham, Mike Gallagher, Josh Harder, Jahana Hayes, Lucy McBath, Roger Marshall, Elissa Slotkin, Greg Gianforte, Mikie Sherrill, Troy Balderson, Lloyd Smucker, David Kustoff, Michael Cloud, Kim Schrier, Aumua Amata Radewagen, Eleanor Norton, Frederica Wilson, André Carson, Greg Murphy, Steven Horsford, Jenniffer González-Colón, Mark Green, John Carter, Bryan Steil, Alan Lowenthal, Rob Woodall, Cheri Bustos, Steven Palazzo, Sean Maloney, Filemon Vela, Jr., Ruben Gallego, Jackie Walorski, Donald Norcross, Tom Rice, Salud Carbajal, Lisa Blunt Rochester, Rick Allen, Ralph Abraham, Brenda Lawrence, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Dwight Evans, Brian Babin, Bruce Westerman, Darren Soto, Mark Walker, Conor Lamb, T.J. Cox, Neal Dunn, Darin LaHood, James Comer, Jr., Angie Craig, Antonio Delgado, Madeleine Dean, Jodey Arrington, Debbie Lesko, Mike Levin, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Lauren Underwood, Mike Johnson, Haley Stevens, Chris Pappas, Susie Lee, Kevin Hern, Ralph Norman, Jr., Lance Gooden, Elaine Luria, Devin Nunes, Ross Spano, Hank Johnson, Jr., Peter Stauber, Jeff Van Drew, Dan Meuser, Chip Roy, Denny Heck, George Holding, Dave Joyce, Chris Stewart, Bradley Byrne, Nanette Barragán, Charlie Crist, Jr., Brad Schneider, Seth Moulton, Jason Smith, John Katko, Will Hurd, Tom O'Halleran, Barry Loudermilk, David Rouzer, Donald McEachin, Andy Biggs, Matt Gaetz, Cindy Axne, Sharice Davids, Jack Bergman, Donald Bacon, Warren Davidson, Veronica Escobar, Harley Rouda, John Rutherford, Russ Fulcher, Ron Estes, Paul Mitchell, Kelly Armstrong, Xochitl Torres Small, Anthony Gonzalez, John Joyce, Dan Crenshaw, Ben McAdams, Carol Miller, John Garamendi, Mike Waltz, Sanford Bishop, Jr., Katherine Clark, Dan Bishop, Paul Tonko, William Timmons, Denver Riggleman III
Date: May 4, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Defense Foreign Affairs Trade

Dear Secretary Pompeo:

We write to urge increased diplomatic action by the United States to renew the expiring United Nations arms embargo against Iran and United Nations travel restrictions on those Iranian individuals involved with dangerous proliferation activities.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231 bans arms transfers to and from Iran, yet Iran routinely violates this resolution with impunity, particularly in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. Iran's illicit transfers of weapons directly contribute to some of the most destabilizing threats to the United States and our partners in the Middle East such as Israel and the Gulf States. Even so, the resolution serves as an important means to restrain the sale of weapons to Iran and makes a clear continued international resolve to stop Iran's illicit weapons transfers.

The U.N. arms embargo is set to expire in October, and we are concerned that the ban's expiration will lead to more states buying and selling weapons to and from Iran. Additionally, states concerned about Iran's malign activities may feel they do not have sufficient legal authority to stop transfers once the U.N. embargo expires. This could have disastrous consequences for U.S. national security and our regional allies. We urge you to work with allies and like-minded partners, including through the United Nations Security Council, to extend these provisions in order to prevent Iran from buying and selling weapons, while also working to increase accountability for violations of the existing embargo. We also urge you to make clear to the international community that U.S. sanctions on Iranian arms transfers remain in place and will be fully enforced.

We are also concerned about the expiration of the U.N.-imposed travel restrictions on some of Iran's most notorious individuals who have long violated U.N. proliferation and weapons restrictions. The U.N. travel restrictions allow states to refuse transit to covered individuals, which limits their ability to train, fundraise, and plan around the globe. Restricting their movement is critical to our national security.

As we work to extend the U.N. travel restrictions, we should also take steps to ensure that they cover all of Iran's most dangerous actors and are fully enforced. The newly named head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), General Esmail Ghanni, is not on the list of named Iranians, despite his experience training Iranian-backed militias in Afghanistan that have targeted American troops and his responsibility for IRGC-QF activities in Pakistan. Additionally, enforcement of these travel bans is key. Former IRGC-QF Commander Qassem Soleimani routinely flouted these UN travel restrictions, including visiting Russia to coordinate Russia's deadly intervention in Syria. We urge you to lead a campaign within the Security Council to expand this list and facilitate its full enforcement.

America must continue its longstanding, bipartisan leadership in order to limit Iran's destabilizing activities throughout the world. We look forward to working with you to re-authorize these expiring U.N. restrictions, which are essential to protecting our national security and the American people.


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