Today, House Republicans will begin debate on Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul’s (R-TX) bill, the No Funds For Iranian Terrorism Act, which imposes immediate, mandatory sanctions on any financial institution that engages in a transaction with the Qatari banks holding the $6 billion of Iranian funds that President Biden recklessly released earlier this year. 

This bill effectively prevents Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism, from accessing these funds, which they could then use to fund their nefarious activities.  
 
FACTS ABOUT THE NO FUNDS FOR IRANIAN TERRORISM ACT (Courtesy of Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans):  

• In September 2023, the Biden Administration waived sanctions to allow $6 billion in Iranian funds in South Korean banks to be transferred to banks in Qatar in exchange for the release of five American hostages.
  • Authorizing the transfer of $6 billion for Iran sets a dangerous precedent that will incentivize more hostage-taking by the number one state sponsor of terror and other bad actors.
  • No matter what the Biden Administration says, money is fungible. This deal gives Iran access to more money to fund its terrorist activities including support for regional proxies like Hamas and Hezbollah.
  • The Iranian regime is highly skilled in sanctions evasion and will do everything it can to hide the true use of these funds instead of using it for “humanitarian” purposes, as the Biden Administration claims.
• Chairman McCaul’s No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act (NFITA) imposes immediate, mandatory sanctions on any financial institution that engages in a transaction with the Qatari banks holding the $6 billion of Iranian funds – effectively freezing this money.  

House Republicans will consider H.R. 5283, the Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023, which would prohibit federal funding from being used to provide housing for illegal immigrants on any land under the jurisdiction of the Federal Land Management agencies, including the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service. 

MAKE NO MISTAKE: President Biden and Extreme Democrats’ open border policies have incentivized a historic surge in illegal immigration at our Southern and Northern borders. Now, Extreme Democrats are using our National Parks to house illegal immigrants, which will only further encourage this crisis. The Protecting our Communities from Failure to Secure the Border Act of 2023 prevents this from happening. 
 
FACTS ABOUT H.R. 5283, THE PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES FROM FAILURE TO SECURE THE BORDER ACT OF 2023 (Courtesy of the House Committee on Natural Resources Republicans): 

• Protects Our Parks: Stops the Biden administration from turning our national parks – America’s best idea – into tent cities for illegal immigrants.
• Holds the Biden Administration Accountable: Revokes the legally dubious lease signed by the Biden administration and New York City, which bypassed standard environmental reviews, to house thousands of migrants in an active community park, on National Park Service land, in Brooklyn. 

BIDEN’S BORDER CRISIS BY THE NUMBERS:

• Since Joe Biden took office:
  • There have been 7.8 million illegal immigrant encounters nationwide.
  • There have been OVER 6.4 MILLION illegal crossings of our Southern Border.
  • There have been 1.7 million known gotaways who evaded U.S. Border Patrol.  
• In October there were 240,988 illegal immigrants encountered at the Southern Border. 
  • This is a 235% increase from October 2020. 
  • October was the 32nd straight month, where monthly illegal immigrant encounters have been higher than even the highest month seen under President Trump. 
• In October, 12 individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. 
• So far under Biden, 279 of these individuals whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the Southern Border.
• In FY23, 169 people whose names appear on the terrorist watchlist were stopped trying to cross the Southern Border, an all time record. 
  • This total is more than the encounters in all FY17, FY18, FY19, FY20, FY21, and FY22 combined. 
• Biden’s Far Left open border policies are to blame for this historic crisis. 
  • During Biden’s first 100 days in office, he took 94 executive actions on immigration, including halting the construction of the border wall. 
  • In August 2022, Biden and his Administration decided to make the border crisis WORSE by formally ending former President Trump’s successful ‘Remain in Mexico’ program.
  • The Biden Administration announced on May 10, 2023, that it would allow for the release of some migrants into the U.S. with no way to track them. 
    • Biden’s Department of Homeland Security has now admitted that 40 percent of catch-and-release migrants have disappeared. 
• Despite this historic crisis Joe Biden has only visited the southern border ONCE, and it was widely panned as nothing more than a photo-op.