Amendments offered by Steil bolster defense bill

U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) recently proposed five amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 that would hold America’s adversaries accountable, and offered another amendment to combat human trafficking.

“Our top priority must be to protect American citizens at home and abroad. We must ensure that our nation’s defense bill includes provisions to hold Iran, the Taliban, and other rogue actors accountable,” Rep. Steil said on Monday. “I will continue working with my colleagues to counter terrorists and the regimes that support them and ensure Americans are safe here at home.”

According to summaries provided by the congressman’s office, the five NDAA amendments introduced by Rep. Steil are: 

1. Stop Evasion of Iran Sanctions, which would prevent those trying to avoid U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime by using a loophole known as INSTEX, which facilitates transactions between businesses in Europe and Iran while avoiding direct exchange between participating firms. This would give the U.S. Treasury Secretary authority to sanction a financial institution operating outside the United States that knowingly conducts a significant sanctionable transaction related to the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).
2. Banking Transparency for Sanctioned Persons, which would require the U.S. Treasury Department to regularly report to Congress on any sanction waivers that allow transactions between financial institutions and targeted individuals.
3. Report on the threat posed by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces to require the U.S.  Department of Defense to report to Congress on the long-term threats posed by America backing the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces and other Iranian-backed militias in the war on ISIS.
4. Report on Taliban Sanctions would require the Treasury Department to issue a report to Congress on the current status of U.S.-United Nations sanctions on the Taliban, including information on the gaps in current sanctions authorities to block the Taliban’s sources of finance, how the current sanctions can be enhanced to block the Taliban’s profit from the drug trade, and the trade of rare earth minerals, among other provisions.
5. Report on Arab Gas Pipeline, which would require the Executive Branch to submit a report to Congress on the financial benefits that the Assad regime in Syria will obtain through transit fees for allowing the export of gas into Lebanon through the Arab Gas Pipeline.

Additionally, Rep. Steil cosponsored a bipartisan amendment sponsored by U.S. Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA) entitled the Create a Human Trafficking Coordinator at the Treasury Department amendment, which would designate an office within the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to coordinate efforts against financing human trafficking, according to the discussion draft. 

The NDAA, H.R. 4350, is currently under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.