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VARIOUS MEASURES

MARKUP

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON 

THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS

FIRST SESSION

ON

H. Res. 185, H. Res. 218, H. Res. 274, H. Res. 317,

H. Res. 359 and H.R. 2646

JUNE 29, 2017

Serial No. 115–49

Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Affairs

(

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.foreignaffairs.house.gov/ or

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/

(II)

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS 

EDWARD R. ROYCE, California, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH, New Jersey 

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida 

DANA ROHRABACHER, California 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

JOE WILSON, South Carolina 

MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas 

TED POE, Texas 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania 

JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina 

MO BROOKS, Alabama 

PAUL COOK, California 

SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

TED S. YOHO, Florida 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

F. JAMES SENSENBRENNER, JR., 

Wisconsin 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

FRANCIS ROONEY, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THOMAS A. GARRETT, JR., Virginia 

ELIOT L. ENGEL, New York 

BRAD SHERMAN, California 

GREGORY W. MEEKS, New York 

ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

KAREN BASS, California 

WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

AMI BERA, California 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas 

ROBIN L. KELLY, Illinois 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

DINA TITUS, Nevada 

NORMA J. TORRES, California 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York 

TED LIEU, California

AMY PORTER, Chief of Staff THOMAS SHEEHY, Staff Director

JASON STEINBAUM, Democratic Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA

ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida, Chairman 

STEVE CHABOT, Ohio 

DARRELL E. ISSA, California 

RON DESANTIS, Florida 

MARK MEADOWS, North Carolina 

PAUL COOK, California 

ADAM KINZINGER, Illinois 

LEE M. ZELDIN, New York 

DANIEL M. DONOVAN, JR., New York 

ANN WAGNER, Missouri 

BRIAN J. MAST, Florida 

BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania 

THEODORE E. DEUTCH, Florida 

GERALD E. CONNOLLY, Virginia 

DAVID N. CICILLINE, Rhode Island 

LOIS FRANKEL, Florida 

BRENDAN F. BOYLE, Pennsylvania 

TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii 

BRADLEY SCOTT SCHNEIDER, Illinois 

THOMAS R. SUOZZI, New York 

TED LIEU, California 

(III)

C O N T E N T S 

Page

MARKUP ON 

H. Res. 185, Calling on the Government of Iran to fulfill repeated promises 

of assistance in the case of Robert Levinson, the longest held United States 

civilian in our Nation’s history ........................................................................... 3

H. Res. 218, Recognizing the importance of the United States-Israel economic 

relationship and encouraging new areas of cooperation ................................... 8

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 218 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Middle East and 

North Africa ...................................................................................................... 14

H. Res. 274, Condemning the Government of Iran’s state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International 

Covenants on Human Rights .............................................................................. 19

Amendment to H. Res. 274 offered by the Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ... 25

H. Res. 317, Calling for the unconditional release of United States citizens 

and legal permanent resident aliens being held for political purposes by 

the Government of Iran ....................................................................................... 26

Amendment in the nature of a substitute to H. Res. 317 offered by the 

Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ....................................................................... 31

H. Res. 359, Urging the European Union to designate Hizballah in its entirety 

as a terrorist organization and increase pressure on it and its members ....... 35

H.R. 2646, To reauthorize the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation 

Act of 2015, and for other purposes .................................................................... 41

LETTERS, STATEMENTS, ETC., SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD 

The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Representative in Congress from the 

State of Florida, and chairman, Subcommittee on the Middle East and 

North Africa: Material submitted for the record ............................................... 47

APPENDIX 

Markup notice .......................................................................................................... 56

Markup minutes ...................................................................................................... 57

Markup summary .................................................................................................... 58

(1)

VARIOUS MEASURES 

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2017

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA,

COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS,

Washington, DC. 

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:06 a.m., in room 

2172, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen 

(chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. The subcommittee will come to order. We 

have members who are here and drinking some coffee in the side 

room, so I am not starting without Ted. He is really here. And, Mr. 

Connolly, I don’t know if you have seen the current issue of Time 

Magazine, but like President Trump, Mr. Connolly is the cover boy 

for this week’s edition and the headline is ‘‘Connolly is Winning So 

Much He’s Increasingly Tired of Winning,’’ correct? But congratulations. It is not everyone who can be on the cover of Time. 

But we meet today pursuant to notice——

Mr. CONNOLLY. If I may? 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. It tells you something about how literal-minded 

some people can be, though. I have had people saying congratulations, it is about time you get recognized, will you sign the cover 

for me, you know. Oh, well. So thank you, everybody. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Congratulations. I will have to bring in my 

edition and you can sign it for me, as well. We will auction it, give 

it to charity. 

But we meet today pursuant to notice to mark up six bipartisan 

measures. As your offices were previously notified, it is the intent 

of the Chair to consider today’s measures en bloc, and so without 

objection, the following items, which were provided to members 

earlier this week, are in your packet are considered as read and 

will be considered en bloc. 

House Resolution 185, Calling on the Government of Iran to fulfill repeated promises of assistance in the case of Robert Levinson, 

the longest held United States civilian in our Nation’s history; 

House Resolution 218, Recognizing the importance of the United 

States-Israel economic relationship and encouraging new areas of 

cooperation; Ros-Lehtinen amendment in the nature of a substitute 

to House Resolution 218; House Resolution 274, Condemning the 

Government of Iran state-sponsored persecution of its Baha’i minority and its continued violation of the International Covenants on 

Human Rights; Ros-Lehtinen amendment 28 to House Resolution 

2

to 274; House Resolution 317, Calling for the unconditional release 

of United States citizens and legal permanent resident aliens being 

held for political purposes by the Government of Iran; Ros-Lehtinen 

amendment in the nature of a substitute to House Resolution 317; 

House Resolution 359, Urging the European Union to designate 

Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization and increase 

pressure on it and its members; and H.R. 2646, The United StatesJordan Defense Cooperation Extension Act. 

[The information referred to follows:]

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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. After my remarks and the ranking member’s 

remarks on these measures, I will be glad to recognize any other 

members seeking recognition. Without objection, all members may 

have 5 days to submit statements for the record on today’s business. 

Today, we have before us a series of important measures that get 

to the heart of some of the subcommittee’s top priorities. Unfortunately, for the third straight Congress, we are marking up yet another resolution presented by Ranking Member Deutch on behalf of 

his constituent, Robert Levinson, who went missing in Iran and is 

the longest held United States citizen in our history. 

While the Levinson family laments his absence, his life’s milestones continue without Bob. We dedicate our commitment to 

bringing him home to his family and to continuing to press the administration to demand the regime fulfill its promises. And we do 

so in tandem with my resolution, House Resolution 317, which calls 

upon Iran to release unconditionally all U.S. citizens, U.S. legal 

permanent resident aliens, and foreign nationals that the regime 

has unjustly detained and is holding hostage. 

Ever since Iran signed the JCPOA and received a ransom payment in exchange for American hostages, it has sought to take advantage of what it believed was a lucrative policy. It was 

emboldened and has since imprisoned dual U.S.-Iranian citizens: 

The Namazis, a father and son, who have been separated from 

their family, sentenced to prison on unjust and trumped-up charges 

and whose health and well-being are in jeopardy. 

The regime has imprisoned U.S. legal resident, Nizar Zakka, and 

sentenced him to 10 years under false charges. Mr. Zakka announced this week that he has begun a hunger strike. This subcommittee has received an audio of Mr. Zakka where he states, ‘‘I 

am innocent. Never done any crime in my life.’’ I would like to ask 

unanimous consent to insert into the record a transcript of the 

transcribed telephone conversation of Mr. Zakka from Evin Prison 

in Iran. 

[The information referred to follows:] 

47

MATERIAL SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD BY THE HONORABLE ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, 

A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF FLORIDA, AND CHAIRMAN, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA


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Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. My resolution also calls on Iran to fulfill its 

promises regarding Robert Levinson, Mr. Deutch’s constituent. This 

will be the third consecutive Congress that Ted and I mark up a 

resolution on Iran’s persecution of the Baha’i, and we would like 

to recognize some of them are in the audience today. Since the 

1979 Islamic revolution, over 200 Baha’i leaders have been executed. Many more have been arbitrarily imprisoned. More than 

10,000 have been dismissed from government and university posts. 

We are calling on the United States and others to use these tools 

and all available authorities to sanction individuals directly responsible for these serious human rights abuses, and not just against 

the Baha’is. 

We must be willing to do what is right and demand that Iran release all hostages and hold the regime accountable for its human 

rights abuses and for its illicit activities. That is why we are also 

here to take up House Resolution 359, urging the European Union 

to designate Hezbollah, in its entirety, as a terrorist organization, 

and this is authored by Ranking Member Deutch and Mr. Bilirakis. 

The notion that they could be separate wings of a terrorist organization and that one wing is bad, and full of terrorists, but the other 

wing is merely a political organization; that is an absurd thought. 

There can be no justification for such a bifurcation. 

Iran is a state sponsor of terror, and Hezbollah is its foremost 

proxy. The European Union needs to wake up, and we must urge 

it and its member states to designate the whole of Hezbollah as the 

terrorists that they are. Also a great tool to combat Hezbollah’s activities is to strengthen our relationship with the democratic Jewish state of Israel, which is why we are pleased to take up Ted 

Lieu’s House Resolution 218—thank you, Mr. Lieu—recognizing 

the importance of that economic relationship and encouraging new 

areas of cooperation. Israel was the first country we signed a free 

trade agreement with over 30 years ago, and while the economic 

and commercial ties remain strong, we can certainly find ways to 

upgrade and improve those. 

That is why Mr. Lieu’s resolution is important, because it 

stresses the support not only to expand our economic relationship, 

but it also urges the President to explore new agreements with 

Israel in the fields of cybersecurity, technology, medicine, agriculture, water, and energy. We have already seen this happening 

between Israel and Jordan, especially in the fields of energy and 

water. 

And that is one of the major goals of our final measure, a bill 

I authored alongside Mr. Deutch, Hal Rogers, Nita Lowey, and 

Adam Schiff, the United States-Jordan Defense Cooperation Extension Act. I am glad to see that Congresswoman Kay Granger of 

Texas has also cosponsored the bill. The Act would authorize the 

U.S. to enter into a new 5-year memorandum of understanding, 

MOU, with Jordan. The Kingdom has been on the front lines in the 

fight against ISIS, and in the humanitarian crisis, we must stand 

with our ally and continue to strengthen its security capabilities. 

This bill would also authorize the creation of a Jordanian Enterprise Fund, which is precisely what Jordan needs to attract private 

investment to help entrepreneurs and small businesses create jobs 

and spur economic development in Jordan. We are hopeful that we 

49

can tie some economic developments in Jordan alongside its neighbors, including Israel, to spur economic growth and bring these nations closer together to create long-term stability. 

So I urge my colleagues to support all of these measures, and the 

Chair now recognizes the ranking member, Mr. Deutch, for his 

statement. 

Mr. DEUTCH. Thank you, Madam Chairman, I would like to express my support for all of these measures before us today. I am 

proud to be a cosponsor of each of them, and I thank the chairman 

for moving this bipartisan slate of bills. 

The U.S.-Jordan relationship is one that provides needed stability throughout the region, and I am pleased to join the chair in 

offering this legislation, which will further ensure that Jordan has 

the resources she needs to defend herself and to help shore up the 

Jordanian economy. 

I would like to thank Mr. Lieu for his resolution highlighting the 

U.S.-Israel economic partnership, the country with the third most 

companies listed on the NASDAQ is Israel. Israel has been a true 

incubator for innovation, just one of the many reasons that the 

United States and Israel enjoy deep cooperation on a wide range 

of issues. 

I want to thank the chairman for bringing forward the resolution 

I introduced with Mr. Bilirakis urging the EU to designate 

Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. I thank the many members 

of this committee who have cosponsored this measure. 

In 2013, the EU listed Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist 

organization. It has yet to include Hezbollah’s political wing. There 

is no distinction. This is one terrorist organization, one that is 

wreaked havoc across the globe for over 30 years, from the bombing 

of a Jewish center in Argentina in 1994 to the bombing of a tourist 

bus in Bulgaria in 2012, to its thousands and thousands of fighters 

doing Iran’s dirty work inside Syria, propping up the murderous 

Assad regime. 

The so-called business affairs component of Hezbollah brings in 

hundreds of millions of dollars a year through narcotrafficking, 

money laundering, and counterfeiting operations throughout Latin 

America, Africa, and Europe. I applaud the cooperation that has 

taken place between law enforcement agencies across Europe, and 

our own, to crack down on these illicit activities, but we cannot 

continue to pretend that any part of Hezbollah has any sort of legitimacy. I urge our European friends to take action now and designate the whole of Hezbollah as the terrorist organization that it 

is. 

I would like to spend my remaining time talking about the despicable human rights abuses taking place in Iran against the Iranian people, and against foreign nationals. First, House Resolution 

274 condemns the horrific persecution of the Baha’i faith in Iran. 

For years, Baha’is have been subject to government raids on 

their businesses, their schools, and their homes. They are prevented from working in government jobs, from attending colleges, 

and from worshipping. There are currently 93 Baha’is in prison in 

Iran. Iran’s persecution of the Baha’is and another minorities is 

just another example of this brutal regime’s complete and total disregard for human rights and international norms. 

50

Second, House Resolution 317 calls for the immediate release of 

all Americans held in Iran. For too long, this regime has taken 

American and other foreign nationals prisoners on trumped-up 

charges resulting in sham trials and outrageous sentences. There 

is no rule of law. There is no due process. This is nothing more 

than hostage taking, and it must stop. This committee has a long 

history of speaking out against these unjust attentions, and we will 

not sit idly by while Americans languish in Iranian jails. And every 

responsible nation should join us in condemning Iran and calling 

for the immediate release of these Americans and other foreign nationals unjustly held in Iran. 

And, finally, I would like to thank the chairman and the other 

cosponsors of House Resolution 185, which calls on Iran to return 

my constituent, Bob Levinson. For those of you who have served on 

this committee for a while now, you have heard me tell Bob’s story 

many times. You have heard me tell it to three Secretaries of State, 

to U.N. Ambassadors, to State Department officials. You have 

heard it while members of the Levinson family sat before you in 

this very room. I will keep telling Bob’s story until Bob is home in 

South Florida with his wife of over 40 years, Christine, with his 

seven children, Susan, Stephanie, Sarah, Samantha, Dan, David, 

and Doug, his sons and daughter-in-law and his seven grandchildren. 

One of Bob’s grandsons recently underwent treatment for cancer. 

Thankfully his prognosis is good, but it makes me sick to think 

that this family had to endure those months of treatment without 

their husband, their father, and their grandfather. Bob’s eighth 

grandchild is due any day now. 

On the 10th anniversary of Bob’s disappearance back on March 

9th, I said that Bob should be home in time for the birth, but here 

we are, 10 years, 3 months and 20 days from the date Bob went 

missing in Iran. That is too long for any family to go without their 

loved ones. Iran must return Bob now. If this regime claims it 

doesn’t have Bob, it knows who does. More promises of assistance 

are too little too late. The time for action is now. 

Iran wants sanctions relief? Iran wants foreign investment? Why 

would any responsible company do business in a country that illegally kidnaps and detains foreigners? And I might ask, why would 

any reasonable American company do business in a country that 

kidnaps American citizens? 

Bob Levinson is now the longest-held American hostage, but I remain hopeful. I am hopeful that this administration will continue 

to exert pressure on Iran. I am hopeful that we will soon welcome 

Bob home to Coral Springs, Florida. I am hopeful that Bob will be 

home to see the birth of his next grandchild. 

Madam Chairman, you have been a heroic ally with me in this 

effort. I thank you for being my partner. I thank you for bringing 

forward all of these bipartisan measures today, and for continuing 

to conduct this committee in such a strong bipartisan manner. And 

I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Deutch, and I am 

sure the family is just so grateful for you being a fighter for Bob 

all the time. Thank you, Ted. 

Mr. Chabot of Ohio. 

51

Mr. CHABOT. Thank you, Madam Chair. Thank you for holding 

this hearing, this markup this morning. I first want to speak briefly on H. Res. 185 by first commending you and also Mr. Deutch for 

your relentless dedication to the case of Robert Levinson, as my 

colleagues mentioned, the longest-held U.S. civilian hostage in 

American history. And I would like to associate myself with both 

of the remarks that you have made this morning and not repeat 

everything. 

I know that my colleagues will continue to press this issue. The 

U.S. has consistently called for the safe return of Mr. Levinson and 

requested Iranian assistance in the matter, and the administration 

and our allies must continue to include Mr. Levinson’s disappearance in any future communications with Iran. Iran has continued 

to make promises, yet no tangible results. Unfortunately, it is probably not surprising, as we are talking about Iran here. 

I also rise in support of H. Res. 218, a resolution that I cosponsored, aims to strengthen U.S.-Israel economic relationship. A 

strong economic partnership is critical to Israel, and it is also obviously in the United States’ bestinterests, as well. Israel continues 

to be one of our, if not our strongest allies, on the globe, and we 

want to make sure that that continues. 

Furthermore, in light of Ambassador Haley’s remarks, and she, 

of course, was before the full committee as recently as yesterday, 

regarding the U.N. Human Rights Council’s targeted assaults on 

Iran this legislation is particularly timely. As we all know, Israel 

consistently seems to be the target, of all things, the Human Rights 

Council in the U.N. They spend, it seems, at least, half their time 

targeting Israel, criticizing Israel. It is absolutely absurd. And then 

they will say nothing about human rights abuses in Venezuela or 

Cuba or a whole range of other pretty horrible places right now for 

human rights on the globe. 

Yet, Israel consistently is a target, so I think this is very timely 

that we are passing this today. We have to show our partners all 

around the world that we will continue to support Israel in every 

possible way, and H. Res. 218 reaffirms that position. 

So I would urge my colleagues to support all of the measures we 

have before us. I think they are all good, but I wanted to particularly talk about those two. Thank you very much. I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Chabot. Thank you for your 

words. And now we will turn to cover boy, Mr. Connolly. 

Mr. CONNOLLY. Thank you, Madam Chairman. And thank you 

for bringing these bipartisan bills to us today. I am proud to support all of them. I would ask unanimous consent that I be added 

before we vote to as a cosponsor——

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Without objection, will do so. 

Mr. CONNOLLY [continuing]. H.R. 2646. Thank you. And I particularly want to thank my friend and colleague, Ted Deutch, for 

his passion and commitment to the Levinson family and for the 

cause of Bob Levinson. Everything he said is absolutely correct. No 

civilized nation can kidnap somebody visiting that country with impunity, indefinitely, and with no cause. And that is not the rule of 

law. That is not how civilized nations behave. And we certainly 

hope Mr. Levinson can be rejoined with his family at the earliest 

possible time. 

52

Madam Chairman, I think it is also important, I was listening 

to my friend, Mr. Chabot, and I agree with him about the hypocrisy 

involving human rights in Israel and the Human Rights Commission at the United Nations, but I think it is important we have to 

be consistent. It would be nice if the President of the United States 

would speak out about human rights when he has the opportunity, 

an opportunity he did not choose to use when he visited Saudi Arabia, an opportunity he did not choose to use when he visited with 

the Russian foreign minister, and one can go down the list. It is 

vital that we speak with one voice and that we speak consistently 

in upholding rule of law and universal human rights, whether it 

be in Cuba, or Iran, or Venezuela. 

And we need to speak with one voice, and, so, I would hope the 

President would hear that message from Mr. Chabot and myself 

and others. It is really important that it come from the top if we 

really mean it, and if we are going to effectuate change. 

With that, Madam Chairman, I, again, thank you for bringing 

these bills to us today. Happily I support all of them, and thank 

you for your leadership. I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you. 

And our hero, Mr. Mast. 

Mr. MAST. Thank you, Madam Chair. What an incredible series 

of resolutions. I applaud this committee for their work on them. 

They get directly to the heart of the most important issues for this 

committee. We identify and work with our allies like Jordan, with 

our friends like Israel. They seek to be the light. We call out evil. 

We call out injustice in Iran, Hezbollah where we see it. These resolutions, they vow truth. I am proud to support them, proud of this 

committee for their work on them, and I yield back. Thank you. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, Mr. Mast. 

Mr. Schneider was here. He is not here? Mr. Lieu. 

Mr. LIEU. Thank you, Madam Chair and Ranking Member 

Deutch for holding today’s markup. I support all the legislation 

under consideration today and am pleased that one of those measures is a resolution I introduced with Congressman Ted Poe. I also 

want to thank Congressman Chabot for his kind words today and 

for being a coauthor of the resolution. 

This legislation recognizes the incredible economic partnership 

and relationship between the United States and Israel, and encourages the administration to explore new areas of cooperation in 

promising fields like energy, water conservation, neurotechnology, 

and cybersecurity. Today, two-way trade is $40 billion annually, and despite representing only 2 percent of the population in the region, Israel is 

the third largest importer of U.S. goods in the region. And Israel, 

in fact, as mentioned before, has more companies listed on the 

NASDAQ than any other country, except the U.S. and China, and 

this is fueling amazing innovations in companies from Silicon 

Beach in Los Angeles to Silicon Wadi in Tel Aviv, and the partnership has even thrived at the State level with over 30 U.S. States, 

including my home State of California, signing agreements with 

Israel to deepen cooperation on mutual areas of interest. 

This revolution enjoys broad support in both the House and Senate, and I hope we continue to move it through Congress to send 

53

a strong bipartisan support for deepening U.S.-Israel cooperation in 

a promising field of science and technology. And with that, I yield 

back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much, Mr. Lieu. Mr. Schneider 

of Illinois. 

Mr. SCHNEIDER. Thank you, chairman, and I want to thank 

Chairman Ros-Lehtinen and Ranking Member Deutch for holding 

this markup today. I appreciate the timely consideration of these 

bipartisan pieces of legislation that address key foreign policy 

issues, and also wish to express my support for all of them. One 

such issue is the terrorist organization, Hezbollah, and its impact 

around the globe. 

I was pleased to see that in 2013, the European Union designated Hezbollah’s military wing as a terrorist organization. But 

this is simply not enough. That is why I am proud to colead with 

my colleagues H. Res. 359, which is a resolution that urges the EU 

to designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a terrorist organization. 

The resolution also expresses appreciation to the EU for progress 

in countering Hezbollah activities since the 2013 designation, and 

urges the EU to increase pressure on the group by freezing assets 

in Europe, prohibiting fundraising activities, and improving crossborder cooperation between EU members in combating Hezbollah. 

I am also proud to cosponsor H. Res. 218, which highlights the 

importance of the U.S.-Israel economic relationship, and encourages continued cooperation in the fields of science and technology. 

The U.S. and Israel have a robust partnership when it comes to 

innovation, and we have seen this manifested through the creation 

and success of programs, such as the United States-Israel Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation, U.S.-

Israel Science and Technology Foundation, and the U.S.-Israel Binational Agricultural Research and Development Foundation. 

I look forward to the continued collaboration between our two nations and the innovative creations this partnership will deliver. 

I am also proud to be a cosponsor and colead of House Resolution 

274, Condemning the Government of Iran’s persecution of its 

Baha’i minority and continued violations of human rights. 

While Iran is a diverse country and home to religious minorities, 

including the Baha’is, as well a Jewish community with roots that 

go back to thousands of years, the government’s autocratic rule in 

the name of a narrow interpretation of one version of Islam denies 

freedom of religion to many of its citizens, a liberty we value so 

deeply here in the United States, and enshrine in the First Amendment of our Constitution. 

This persecution of Iranian members of the Baha’i faith, which 

ranges from blatant discrimination in the educational and employment spheres, to the brutality of imprisonment and execution, cannot be tolerated. We must not forget that in addition to Iran’s flagrant testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles, and outright 

support for terrorism that threaten Israel and our other allies in 

the region, the Iranian people also suffer at the hands of the regime. 

The U.S. Baha’i House of Worship is headquartered in the Chicago area, and I firmly stand with Baha’i community in the U.S. 

and Iran in calling for an end to this horrific religious persecution. 

54

I would also like to join my colleagues in highlighting the case 

of Robert Levinson, as has been noted, the longest-held U.S. civilian in our Nation’s history. No family should have to go through 

what Mr. Levinson’s family has gone through. I am pleased to see 

this subcommittee take up House Resolution 185, which calls on 

the Government of Iran to fulfill its repeated promises to assist in 

this case of Robert Levinson, and I look forward to him joining his 

family and welcoming his eighth grandchild. 

I would like to thank the subcommittee again for considering 

these important and relevant bills, and with that, I yield back. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you so much. Mr. Suozzi? 

Mr. SUOZZI. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I want to thank 

you and the ranking member for your excellent bipartisan cooperation on all of these different issues, and I want to make a special 

thank you to Ranking Member Deutch, for actually reintroducing 

me to Mr. Levinson’s sons recently. There are seven children in the 

Levinson family, and it was 12 years ago that Mr. Levinson’s mother-in-law passed away, and on Long Island I was there for the family wake, I was serving as the county executive at the time, and 

we were reintroduced here in the hallway, not long ago, by Mr. 

Deutch, and I want to thank him so much for doing that. And I 

want to thank him for his personal commitment to this family in 

trying to help relieve the suffering that they are undergoing. And 

in each of these different issues that we are addressing, everyone 

on this committee is working together to try and relieve suffering 

in different parts of the world, and this is really important work, 

and it is wonderful that when everything in politics seem so petty 

and small these days, that people can work together to try and 

achieve some common good. So I am happy to support each of these 

initiatives. Thank you so much. 

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Thank you, sir. And we are glad to see Mr. 

DeSantis and Mr. Zeldin with us, as well. And hearing no further 

requests for recognition, the question occurs on the items considered en bloc. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say 

no. 

In the opinion of the Chair, the ayes have it, and the measures 

considered en bloc are agreed to. Without objection the measures 

considered en bloc are ordered favorably reported to the full committee as amended, and staff is directed to make any technical and 

conforming changes. 

That concludes our markup. The subcommittee stands adjourned. 

And thank you ladies and gentlemen for being with us. 

[Whereupon, at 10:33 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.] 

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A P P E N D I X 

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