Title: A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State should designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, freeze all assets of the Government of Afghanistan held in the United States, and use all authority and influence of the United States Government to prohibit the distribution of funds to the Afghan Taliban by other countries and international institutions and organizations.
Policy area: International Affairs

Summary:
This resolution states that the Senate stands with the Afghan people now living under the Afghan Taliban regime. It calls on the Department of State to designate the Afghan Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization. It also states that the Afghan Taliban regime must be denied access to funds held by the U.S. government.

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 359 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
S. RES. 359

 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State should 
   designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, 
 freeze all assets of the Government of Afghanistan held in the United 
   States, and use all authority and influence of the United States 
Government to prohibit the distribution of funds to the Afghan Taliban 
  by other countries and international institutions and organizations.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 14, 2021

     Mr. Graham (for himself and Mr. Burr) submitted the following 
  resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
 Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of State should 
   designate the Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, 
 freeze all assets of the Government of Afghanistan held in the United 
   States, and use all authority and influence of the United States 
Government to prohibit the distribution of funds to the Afghan Taliban 
  by other countries and international institutions and organizations.

Whereas the designation of an organization as a Foreign Terrorist Organization 
        ``play[s] a critical role in our fight against terrorism and [is] an 
        effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities'', 
        according to the Department of State;
Whereas, under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 
        1189), the Secretary of State may designate an organization as a Foreign 
        Terrorist Organization if the organization is a foreign organization, 
        the organization engages in terrorist activity or retains the capability 
        and intent to engage in terrorist activity or terrorism, and the 
        terrorist activity or terrorism of the organization threatens the 
        security of United States nationals or the national security of the 
        United States;
Whereas, as of August 2021, there are 72 designated Foreign Terrorist 
        Organizations, including radical Islamic terror groups such as Al-Qaida, 
        which was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1999;
Whereas, prior to the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the 
        Afghan Taliban provided a safe haven for Al-Qaida to plan, train, and 
        operate freely;
Whereas, following those attacks on the United States, which killed almost 3,000 
        people, the Afghan Taliban continued to support Al-Qaida;
Whereas Al-Qaida first pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban in the 1990s and 
        have reaffirmed their loyalty to the Afghan Taliban repeatedly since 
        2001;
Whereas, since the early 1990s, the Afghan Taliban have been responsible for the 
        deaths of countless innocent civilians in Afghanistan, terrorizing the 
        countryside and the cities alike;
Whereas the United Nations report of the Analytical Support and Sanctions 
        Monitoring Team released in June 2021 stated that ``the [Afghan] Taliban 
        and Al-Qaida remain closely aligned and show no indication of breaking 
        ties'', and ``Al-Qaida is resident in at least 15 Afghan provinces'';
Whereas, according to the Afghanistan Study Group, ``the [Afghan] Taliban have 
        fallen short of their commitments: they have failed to fulfill their 
        guarantee that they will not `cooperate with groups or individuals 
        threatening the security of the United States and its allies' and will 
        `prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not 
        host them''';
Whereas the Afghan Taliban have continued their terrorist actions through 
        targeted assassinations of former Afghan leaders, prominent civilian 
        leaders, judges, journalists, and human rights advocates;
Whereas an Afghanistan under Afghan Taliban control will result in further 
        oppression of the Afghan people, including women and girls, and the 
        creation of a safe haven for radical Islamic terror groups, which will 
        result in the United States homeland being less safe;
Whereas the threat to the United States homeland has greatly increased now that 
        the Afghan Taliban have taken control of Afghanistan;
Whereas, on September 13, 2021, Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified 
        before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 
        that ``the [Afghan] Taliban has been designated as a terrorist 
        organization'';
Whereas it is critical that all elements of United States national power be used 
        to prohibit the Afghan Taliban from using Afghanistan as a base from 
        which radical Islamic terror organizations can strike the United States 
        homeland, as they did on September 11, 2001;
Whereas the Afghan Taliban share an ideology and interact closely with 
        designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, including Al-Qaida in the 
        Indian Subcontinent, the Haqqani Network, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan;
Whereas the newly formed Afghan Taliban Government includes in its senior ranks 
        individuals subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations and 
        leaders of the Haqqani Network, all of whom are hostile to the United 
        States;
Whereas Sirajuddin Haqqani, the leader of the Haqqani Network, which has 
        targeted and killed United States citizens, has been named as the acting 
        Interior Minister of Afghanistan;
Whereas Sirajuddin Haqqani is listed on the Most Wanted list of the Federal 
        Bureau of Investigation, and the Rewards for Justice program of the 
        Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10,000,000 for 
        information leading to his arrest;
Whereas Khalil al-Rahman Haqqani, the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani and a 
        specially designated global terrorist under Executive Order 13224 (50 
        U.S.C. 1701 note; relating to blocking property and prohibiting 
        transactions with persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support 
        terrorism) for whom the Rewards for Justice program of the Department of 
        State is offering a reward of $5,000,000 for information leading to his 
        arrest, has been named acting Minister of Refugees of Afghanistan;
Whereas the United States Government must do everything possible to limit the 
        influence of the Afghan Taliban regime, including denying the regime 
        access to all money held by the United States Government, and should 
        pressure other countries to do the same;
Whereas the Biden administration should use all authority and influence to 
        prohibit international institutions and organizations from distributing 
        funds within the jurisdiction of those institutions and organizations to 
        the Afghan Taliban regime; and
Whereas the Biden administration should designate the takeover of Afghanistan by 
        the Afghan Taliban as a coup d'etat, and all foreign assistance to 
        Afghanistan, including funds administered by United States Agency for 
        International Development, should be withheld: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) stands with the Afghan people who are now living under 
        the brutal Afghan Taliban regime;
            (2) calls upon the Secretary of State to designate the 
        Afghan Taliban as a Foreign Terrorist Organization;
            (3) declares that the takeover of Afghanistan by the Afghan 
        Taliban should be designated as a coup d'etat;
            (4) states that the United States Government must deny the 
        Afghan Taliban regime access to funds held by the United States 
        Government and work to ensure other countries do the same; and
            (5) calls upon the United States Government to use all 
        authority and influence to encourage international institutions 
        and organizations to deny the Afghan Taliban regime access to 
        funds held within the jurisdiction of those institutions and 
        organizations.
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