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Representative urges reaffirmation that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism
Summary
A lawmaker introduced a floor resolution reaffirming that Iran is the largest state sponsor of terrorism, listing a series of alleged attacks on U.S. service members, contractors and civilians and noting a claim that $6 billion in Iranian assets was unfrozen; the transcript records no vote or next step.
A lawmaker introduced a resolution on the floor reaffirming that "Iran remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism," and read a series of incidents he said justified the measure.
"This resolution is very simple," the lawmaker said at the opening of his remarks, before asking rhetorically, "Why is Iran the largest state sponsor of terrorism?" He said the reaffirmation was warranted because, in his words, Iran and Iran-backed groups "have spent the last 47 years targeting and attacking the United States of America every single chance that they have."
In an extended list of alleged incidents the lawmaker cited an April attack he attributed to Houthi forces that he said involved the USS Harry S. Truman and resulted in a U.S. aircraft entering the ocean. He also said Iran-backed militias attacked at least three U.S. bases in Syria and two in Iraq in June. He cited a January drone attack he attributed to Iran-backed Hezbollah that he said killed three U.S. service members and wounded more than 40 at a base in Jordan.
The lawmaker singled out the October 7 attack, saying "Iran-backed Hamas terrorists killed 46 Americans, kidnapped at least 12 Americans in the October 7 massacre." He also stated that "Just prior to that, President Biden unfroze $6 billion of Iranian assets," presenting that claim as contextual to the timeline he read.
Other incidents the lawmaker listed included an Iranian drone strike that he said killed an American contractor and wounded U.S. service members at a coalition base in Syria; an allegation that an IRGC captain orchestrated the killing of an American citizen in Baghdad; a cited rocket attack that he said killed an American in Iraqi Kurdistan; and multiple rocket and drone attacks he said wounded U.S. service members and civilian contractors in Iraq and Syria, including an attack at Erbil (transcript: "Urbil"). He also referred to an earlier incident in which Iran detained 10 U.S. Navy sailors on the deck of an Iranian vessel and to attacks he attributed to Iran-backed groups that killed U.S. citizens.
All numbered counts and dates in this account are reported as stated by the lawmaker in the transcript. The remarks present a case for the resolution but the transcript does not record a formal motion, a vote, or the resolution number, nor does it record any response, debate, or procedural next step in the excerpt provided.
The transcript excerpts the lawmaker's list of incidents as the basis for the proposed reaffirmation; no additional witnesses, staff testimony, or committee findings appear in the provided text. The next procedural action on the resolution is not specified in the transcript.
