I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5961 

To freeze certain Iranian funds involved in the 2023 hostage deal between 

the United States and Iran, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

OCTOBER 16, 2023 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. SCALISE, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. WILSON of South 

Carolina, Mrs. RODGERS of Washington, Mr. BARR, Mr. BURCHETT, 

Mrs. WAGNER, Ms. SALAZAR, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. BAIRD, Mr. 

SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. ISSA, Mr. MORAN, Mr. JAMES, Mr. WALTZ, 

Mr. SELF, Mrs. RADEWAGEN, Mr. MAST, Mr. MCCORMICK, Mrs. KIM of 

California, Mr. BUCK, Mr. MILLS, Mr. HUIZENGA, Mr. JACKSON of 

Texas, and Mr. LAWLER) introduced the following bill 

OCTOBER 25, 2023 

Referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To freeze certain Iranian funds involved in the 2023 hostage 

deal between the United States and Iran, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Funds for Iranian 

5 Terrorism Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress makes the following findings: 

3 (1) On October 7, 2023, Iran-backed Hamas 

4 terrorists launched a massive, unprovoked war on 

5 Israel by air, land, and sea, in which they engaged 

6 in the brutal murder of over 1,300 people and kid7 napped 130 people who are now being held hostage. 

8 (2) Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and 

9 Hezbollah have all been designated by the United 

10 States as Foreign Terrorist Organizations pursuant 

11 to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality 

12 Act (8 U.S.C. 1189). 

13 (3) According to an unclassified United States 

14 government assessment, ‘‘Iran has historically pro15 vided up to $100 million annually in combined sup16 port to Palestinian terrorist groups, including 

17 Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the 

18 Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-Gen19 eral Command.’’. 

20 (4) As National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan 

21 stated on October 10, 2023, ‘‘Iran is complicit in 

22 this attack in a broad sense because they have pro23 vided the lion’s share of the funding for the military 

24 wing of Hamas, they have provided training, they 

25 have provided capabilities, they have provided supVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:30 Nov 06, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5961.IH H5961

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1 port, and they have provided engagement and con2 tact with Hamas over years and years.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO COV4 ERED IRANIAN ASSETS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—On and after the date of the en6 actment of this Act, the President shall impose the sanc7 tion described in subsection (c) with respect to each for8 eign financial institution and each international financial 

9 institution that the President determines engages in an 

10 activity described in subsection (b). 

11 (b) ACTIVITIES DESCRIBED.—A foreign financial in12 stitution or international financial institution engages in 

13 an activity described in this subsection if the institution 

14 processes, participates in, or facilitates a transaction using 

15 or involving covered Iranian funds. 

16 (c) BLOCKING OF PROPERTY.—The sanction de17 scribed in this subsection is the exercise of all of the pow18 ers granted to the President under the International 

19 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et 

20 seq.) to the extent necessary to block and prohibit all 

21 transactions in property and interests in property of a for22 eign financial institution or international financial institu23 tion described in subsection (a) if such property and inter24 ests in property are in the United States, come within the 


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1 United States, or are or come within the possession or 

2 control of a United States person. 

3 (d) PENALTIES.—The penalties provided for in sub4 sections (b) and (c) of section 206 of the International 

5 Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1705) shall 

6 apply to a person that violates, attempts to violate, con7 spires to violate, or causes a violation of this section or 

8 any regulations promulgated to carry out this section to 

9 the same extent that such penalties apply to a person that 

10 commits an unlawful act described in section 206(a) of 

11 that Act. 

12 (e) TERMINATION OF SANCTIONS.—The President 

13 shall not be required to impose sanctions under this sec14 tion with respect to a foreign financial institution or inter15 national financial institution described in subsection (a) 

16 if the President certifies in writing to the appropriate con17 gressional committees that the Government of Iran— 

18 (1) no longer repeatedly provides support for 

19 international terrorism as determined by the Sec20 retary of State pursuant to— 

21 (A) section 1754(c)(1)(A) of the Export 

22 Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 

23 4318(c)(1)(A)); 

24 (B) section 620A of the Foreign Assistance 

25 Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2371); 


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1 (C) section 40 of the Arms Export Control 

2 Act (22 U.S.C. 2780); or 

3 (D) any other provision of law; and 

4 (2) has ceased the pursuit, acquisition, and de5 velopment of, and verifiably dismantled its, nuclear, 

6 biological, and chemical weapons and ballistic mis7 siles and ballistic missile launch technology. 

8 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT11 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com12 mittees’’ means— 

13 (A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and 

14 the Committee on Financial Services of the 

15 House of Representatives; and 

16 (B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 

17 and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 

18 Urban Affairs of the Senate. 

19 (2) COVERED IRANIAN FUNDS.—The term ‘‘cov20 ered Iranian funds’’ means any funds transferred 

21 from accounts in the Republic of Korea to Qatar 

22 pursuant to or under the authority or guaranty of 

23 a waiver, license, assurance letter, or other guidance 

24 issued pursuant to or in furtherance of the waiver 

25 determination made pursuant to sections 1244(i) 


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1 (22 U.S.C. 8803(i) and 1247(f) of the Iran Freedom 

2 and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 

3 8806(f)) and section 1245(d)(5) of the National De4 fense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (22 

5 U.S.C. 8513a(d)(5)) that is the subject of the docu6 ment entitled ‘‘Waiver of Sanctions with Respect to 

7 the Transfer of Funds from the Republic of Korea 

8 to Qatar’’ and was transmitted to Congress in Sep9 tember 2023. 

10 (3) FOREIGN FINANCIAL INSTITUTION.—The 

11 term ‘‘foreign financial institution’’ has the meaning 

12 given such term under section 561.308 of title 31, 

13 Code of Federal Regulations. 

14 (4) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU15 TION.—The term ‘‘international financial institu16 tion’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

17 1701(c) of the International Financial Institutions 

18 Act (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)). 

Æ 


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