Encouraging the EU to DESIGNATE Resolution

Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the resolution (H. Res. 288) urging the European Union to expeditiously designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization under Common Position 931, and for other purposes.

Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on this measure.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise in support of this resolution calling on the European

Union to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization.

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from New York (Ms. Tenney) for introducing this very important legislation. Congresswoman Tenney is appreciated for her tireless efforts of promoting peace through strength. From the Middle East to Europe, the IRGC is fielding conflicts in conjunction with proxies, puppets, dictators, and warlords.

In April of 2019, the United States rightfully designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization for its role in these acts of global terror, including the role in assassination attempts on both American and European soil. In the last 5 years, the IRGC's destabilizing influence has only grown, particularly in Europe, as Iran is helping and collaborating to facilitate war criminal Putin's illegal war of aggression against the people of Ukraine.

In Ukraine, we have seen hundreds of Iranian drones used against civilians and civilian infrastructure. War criminal Putin and the regime of Tehran are in alliance with the dictators of rule of gun invading democracies with rule of law.

The restrictions associated with the U.S. foreign terrorist organization designation limit the IRGC's ability to access U.S. markets, but in Europe, without a corresponding European terror designation, the IRGC can still find ample financing.

This is deeply troubling given the IRGC's extensive history of sanctions evasion, including in EU member states, and increasing cooperation with war criminal Putin to evade Western financial restrictions.

The European Commission has historically claimed it lacks sufficient evidence for such a designation. As the co-chair and founder of the EU Caucus, I especially expect the European Union to designate the IRGC a terrorist organization. To fail is, sadly, ridiculous.

The IRGC's role of fueling terrorism is undeniable. The European Parliament clearly agrees. In January 2023, the European Parliament ratified a resolution calling for the IRGC to be designated, pointing out that it, ``both directly and by acting through local proxies, has assassinated diaspora dissidents, kidnapped exiles for abduction to Iran, and plotted bomb attacks in several countries, including the EU member states.''

It is long past time for the European Union to join the United States in properly designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I yield such time as she may consume to the gentlewoman from New York (Ms. Tenney), a member of the Ways and Means Committee and the author of this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, we must continue to do all we can to address the threat

posed by Iran. The IRGC has for decades played a direct role in threatening the European Union and its citizens.

Given its increasing reach, most recently with its murderous support of war criminal Putin's invasion of Ukraine, it is imperative that no stone is left unturned. We must work together to cut off Iran's ability to fuel terrorism on a global scale, and that must include designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

Madam Speaker, I thank, in particular, Congresswoman Claudia Tenney for developing this resolution and her extraordinary efforts in a bipartisan manner to do research on the IRGC that should be very informative to the American people and be a message to even the people of Iran how the oppression of the people of Iran actually has consequences, sadly, around the world. Congresswoman Tenney effectively promotes the safety and security of American and European families.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in support of this resolution calling on the European Union to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a foreign terrorist organization, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Madam Speaker, I thank Representative Joe Wilson, my good friend and dear colleague, and also the ranking member, my colleague from New York, Representative Meeks, for their support of this resolution.

Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of my resolution, H. Res. 288, that is on the floor today, the Encouraging the EU to DESIGNATE Resolution.

This resolution encourages our European Union allies to finally designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a terrorist entity under EU Common Position 931.

What is the IRGC? For those of you who do not know, the IRGC is an Iranian extra-military organization that both conducts the Iranian mullahs' acts of terrorism and is the link between Ayatollah Khamenei and other terror groups, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis out of Yemen.

For example, the IRGC Quds Force funds, arms, trains, and supports Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the PIJ. The IRGC's Basij has been a primary force for quashing the courageous protesters in the wake of the horrible killing of Mahsa Amini by the brutal Iranian regime. The IRGC Navy has antagonized U.S. ships in the Red Sea in violation of international law. The IRGC Quds Force has played a key role in Iranian-directed assassinations in the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Bulgaria, and Cyprus in just recent years.

The threat posed by the IRGC is not only abroad. Just a few years ago, the IRGC engaged in a murder-for-hire plot to target former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

If anyone is concerned about whether IRGC is a terrorist entity, I encourage you to read my ``Report on IRGC Terrorist Activity'' that details the many terrorist plots the IRGC has been involved in. All the information is here. For those of you at home, you can access it on Tenney.house.gov. I took special effort to make sure that people knew exactly what this evil force was up to.

In 2019, President Trump declared the IRGC a foreign terrorist organization. While this was just a tremendous first step, we must encourage our allies to join us and confront the Iranian threat head- on. That is why, last year, I led numerous letters, and many of my colleagues joined with me, to the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and India, imploring them to please join us and designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity so we could impose sanctions.

Sadly, none of these countries have joined us yet. The Encouraging the EU to DESIGNATE Resolution would implore our EU allies to get off the sidelines and to take a stand against terrorism and for freedom and democracy.

Madam Speaker, I wish Josep Borrell, the EU's High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, were here today because I have a question for him: Do you stand with the United States and for freedom, or do you stand with the Iranian terrorists that have tried and succeeded in killing Europeans across the continent? Sadly, I think we all know the answer.

Madam Speaker, this isn't hard. Some would call it a no-brainer. It is time for the EU to join the U.S. and designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity. I urge all of my colleagues to support this commonsense resolution. We must stand together against the Iranian threat.

Madam Speaker, the United States designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC, as a foreign terrorist organization, an FTO, in April 2019 because of its record of terrorism, violation of the laws of armed conflict, assassination attempts, and significant support for regional terrorist groups. Our designation has helped limit the IRGC's ability to access the United States' markets.

Unfortunately, EU markets, absent a similar terror designation, remain viable sources of IRGC income.

The IRGC clearly represents a threat to both American and European security. We must join forces to limit the IRGC's access to capital. It is long past time for the EU to act, as a combination of U.S. and EU designations would have a major impact and will help save lives.

This resolution calls on the EU to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran as an addition to the EU terror list. Amidst IRGC's ongoing support of Russian war crimes in Ukraine, EU's reluctance risks emboldening the Iranian Government's goal of sowing terror and chaos in the West.

The IRGC clearly presents a threat to the EU and our collective security. It is long past time to cut off its resources and hold Iran accountable. Working together, we can contain and diminish Iranian terrorism and make the world safer for Americans and Europeans alike.

Madam Speaker, I encourage my colleagues to join me in supporting this measure, and I reserve the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, once again, it is overdue for the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity. They are nothing but that. By shutting the IRGC out of both the American and European markets, we will be starving them of important resources of funding they rely on to conduct their terrorist and other destabilizing activities.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting H. Res. 288, and I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I was unable to cast my vote for Roll Call Votes Nos. 124 through 134. Had I been present, I would have voted: ``Nay'' on Roll Call Vote No. 124, Motion on Ordering the Previous Question on H. Res. 1149; ``No'' on Roll Call Vote No. 125, H. Res. 1149; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 126, H.R. 6245; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 127, H.R. 6015; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 128, H.R. 5917; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 129, H.R. 4681; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 130, H.R. 6603; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 131, H.R. 5826; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 132, H.R. 3033; ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 133, H. Res. 288; and ``Yea'' on Roll Call Vote No. 134, H. Res. 883.