< Back to H.R. 3783
(112th Congress, 2011–2013)
Text of the Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012
This bill was enacted after being signed by the President on December 28, 2012. The text of the bill below is as of Dec 19, 2012 (Passed Congress/Enrolled Bill).
One Hundred Twelfth Congress of the United States of America
At the Second Session
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, the third day of January, two thousand and twelve
H. R. 3783
AN ACT
To provide for a
comprehensive strategy to counter Iran’s growing hostile presence and
activity in the Western Hemisphere, and for other purposes.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the
Countering Iran in the Western Hemisphere Act of 2012.
Findings
Congress finds the following:
The United States has vital political, economic, and security interests in the Western Hemisphere.
Iran
is pursuing cooperation with Latin American countries by signing
economic and security agreements in order to create a network of
diplomatic and economic relationships to lessen the blow of
international sanctions and oppose Western attempts to constrict its
ambitions.
According to the Department of State, Hezbollah, with Iran as its state sponsor, is considered the
most technically capable terrorist group in the worldwith
thousands of supporters, several thousand members, and a few hundred terrorist operatives,and officials from the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Qods Force have been working in concert with Hezbollah for many years.
The
IRGC’s Qods Force has a long history of supporting Hezbollah’s
military, paramilitary, and terrorist activities, providing it with
guidance, funding, weapons, intelligence, and logistical support, and in
2007, the Department of the Treasury placed sanctions on the IRGC and
its Qods Force for their support of terrorism and proliferation
activities.
The
IRGC’s Qods Force stations operatives in foreign embassies, charities,
and religious and cultural institutions to foster relationships, often
building on existing socioeconomic ties with the well established Shia
Diaspora, and recent years have witnessed an increased presence in Latin
America.
According
to the Department of Defense, the IRGC and its Qods Force played a
significant role in some of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the past
two decades, including the 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish Community
Center in Buenos Aires, by generally directing or supporting the groups
that actually executed the attacks.
Reports
of Iranian intelligence agents being implicated in Hezbollah-linked
activities since the early 1990s suggest direct Iranian government
support of Hezbollah activities in the Tri-Border Area of Argentina,
Brazil, and Paraguay, and in the past decade, Iran has dramatically
increased its diplomatic missions to Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua,
Ecuador, Argentina, and Brazil. Iran has built 17 cultural centers in
Latin America, and it currently maintains 11 embassies, up from 6 in
2005.
Hezbollah
and other Iranian proxies with a presence in Latin America have raised
revenues through illicit activities, including drug and arms
trafficking, counterfeiting, money laundering, forging travel documents,
pirating software and music, and providing haven and assistance to
other terrorists transiting the region.
Bolivia,
Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua, and Venezuela expressed their intention to
assist Iran in evading sanctions by signing a statement supporting
Iran’s nuclear activities and announcing at a 2010 joint press
conference in Tehran their determination to
continue and expand their economic ties to Iranwith confidence that
Iran can give a crushing response to the threats and sanctions imposed by the West and imperialism.
The
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration concluded in 2008 that almost
one-half of the foreign terrorist organizations in the world are linked
to narcotics trade and trafficking, including Hezbollah and Hamas.
In
October 2011, the United States charged two men, Manssor Arbabsiar, a
United States citizen holding both Iranian and United States passports,
and Gholam Shakuri, an Iran-based member of Iran’s IRGC Qods Force, with
conspiracy to murder a foreign official using explosives in an act of
terrorism. Arbabsiar traveled to Mexico with the express intent to hire
someone in the narcotics businessto carry out the assassination of the Saudi Arabian Ambassador in the United States. While in the end, he only engaged a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency informant posing as an associate of a drug trafficking cartel, Arbabsiar believed that he was working with a member of a Mexican drug trafficking organization and sought to send money to this individual in installments and not in a single transfer.
In
February 2011, actions by the Department of the Treasury effectively
shut down the Lebanese Canadian Bank. Subsequent actions by the United
States Government in connection with the investigation into Lebanese
Canadian Bank resulted in the indictment in December 2011 of Ayman
Joumaa, an individual of Lebanese nationality, with citizenship in
Lebanon and Colombia, and with ties to Hezbollah, for trafficking
cocaine to the Los Zetas drug trafficking organization in Mexico City
for sale in the United States and for laundering the proceeds.
Statement of Policy
It shall be the policy of the United States to use a comprehensive
government-wide strategy to counter Iran’s growing hostile presence and
activity in the Western Hemisphere by working together with United
States allies and partners in the region to mutually deter threats to
United States interests by the Government of Iran, the Iranian Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the IRGC’s Qods Force, and Hezbollah.
Definitions
In this Act:
Western Hemisphere
The term Western Hemisphere means the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America.
Relevant congressional committees
The term relevant congressional committees means the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate.
Requirement of a strategy to address Iran’s growing hostile presence and activity in the Western Hemisphere
In general
Not
later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the
Secretary of State shall conduct an assessment of the threats posed to
the United States by Iran’s growing presence and activity in the Western
Hemisphere and submit to the relevant congressional committees the
results of the assessment and a strategy to address Iran’s growing
hostile presence and activity in the Western Hemisphere.
Matters To be included
The strategy described in subsection (a) should include—
a
description of the presence, activities, and operations of Iran, the
Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), its Qods Force,
Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations linked to Iran that may be
present in the Western Hemisphere, including information about their
leaders, objectives, and areas of influence and information on their
financial networks, trafficking activities, and safe havens;
a
description of the terrain, population, ports, foreign firms, airports,
borders, media outlets, financial centers, foreign embassies,
charities, religious and cultural centers, and income-generating
activities in the Western Hemisphere utilized by Iran, the IRGC, its
Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations linked to Iran
that may be present in the Western Hemisphere;
a
description of the relationship of Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force, and
Hezbollah with transnational criminal organizations linked to Iran and
other terrorist organizations in the Western Hemisphere, including
information on financial networks and trafficking activities;
a
description of the relationship of Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force,
Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations linked to Iran that may be
present in the Western Hemisphere with the governments in the Western
Hemisphere, including military-to-military relations and diplomatic,
economic, and security partnerships and agreements;
a
description of the Federal law enforcement capabilities, military
forces, State and local government institutions, and other critical
elements, such as nongovernmental organizations, in the Western
Hemisphere that may organize to counter the threat posed by Iran, the
IRGC, its Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations
linked to Iran that may be present in the Western Hemisphere;
a
description of activity by Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force, Hezbollah,
and other terrorist organizations linked to Iran that may be present at
the United States borders with Mexico and Canada and at other
international borders within the Western Hemisphere, including
operations related to drug, human, and arms trafficking, human support
networks, financial support, narco-tunneling, and technological
advancements that incorporates—
with
respect to the United States borders, in coordination with the
Governments of Mexico and Canada and the Secretary of Homeland Security,
a plan to address resources, technology, and infrastructure to create a
secure United States border and strengthen the ability of the United
States and its allies to prevent operatives from Iran, the IRGC, its
Qods Force, Hezbollah, or any other terrorist organization from entering
the United States; and
within
Latin American countries, a multiagency action plan, in coordination
with United States allies and partners in the region, that includes the
development of strong rule-of-law institutions to provide security in
such countries and a counterterrorism and counter-radicalization plan to
isolate Iran, the IRGC, its Qods Force, Hezbollah, and other terrorist
organizations linked to Iran that may be present in the Western
Hemisphere from their sources of financial support and counter their
facilitation of terrorist activity; and
a plan—
to
address any efforts by foreign persons, entities, and governments in
the region to assist Iran in evading United States and international
sanctions;
to
protect United States interests and assets in the Western Hemisphere,
including embassies, consulates, businesses, energy pipelines, and
cultural organizations, including threats to United States allies;
to
support United States efforts to designate persons and entities in the
Western Hemisphere for proliferation activities and terrorist activities
relating to Iran, including affiliates of the IRGC, its Qods Force, and
Hezbollah, under applicable law including the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act; and
to
address the vital national security interests of the United States in
ensuring energy supplies from the Western Hemisphere that are free from
the influence of any foreign government that would attempt to manipulate
or disrupt global energy markets.
Development
In
developing the strategy under this section, the Secretary of State
shall consult with the heads of all appropriate United States
departments and agencies, including the Secretary of Defense, the
Director of National Intelligence, the Secretary of Homeland Security,
the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the United
States Trade Representative.
Form
The
strategy in this section may be submitted in classified form, but shall
include an unclassified summary of policy recommendations to address
the growing Iranian threat in the Western Hemisphere.
Sense of Congress
It
is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of State should keep the
relevant congressional committees continually informed on the hostile
actions of Iran in the Western Hemisphere.
Rule of construction
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to limit the rights or
protections enjoyed by United States citizens under the United States
Constitution or other Federal law, or to create additional authorities
for the Federal Government that are contrary to the United States
Constitution and United States law.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate.
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