Rockland Reporter

Today, Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) joined Senator Marco Rubio, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member Jim Risch, and Representative Jim Banks in sending a letter to President Biden regarding the implementation of the recently-passed Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability (MAHSA) Act and the Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act. Both acts were included in the Fiscal Year 2024 Appropriations bill on April 24, 2024 (P.L. 118-50). Representative Lawler introduced the SHIP Act and cosponsored the MAHSA Act, both of which passed the House with overwhelming bipartisan support.

The MAHSA Act requires the administration to make sanctions determinations on the Iranian regime, impose sanctions, and report to Congress on those sanctions within 90 days of enactment. The SHIP Act mandates sanctions on ports and refineries that process illicit Iranian oil, thereby helping Iran evade U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil. It also requires the State Department to develop a strategy to counter the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) evasion of U.S. sanctions on Iranian oil by August 22, 2024. The administration’s deadlines have passed without any indications of movement from the Biden Administration.

"The regime in Tehran has long channeled the proceeds from its petroleum industry to fund its ongoing repression of the Iranian people and to fund a campaign of terrorism against the United States, Israel, and other allies and partners in the Middle East. We are concerned by the fact that your administration has failed to submit its plan on implementing these sanctions by the deadlines stipulated by law," wrote the lawmakers.

"While your administration dithers, Iran’s assault on freedom and human rights in the Middle East continues unabated. In late August, media reports indicated that Iranian exports to the PRC have reached a six-year high at more than 1.75 million barrels of oil a day. This figure is nearly 50 percent higher than it was in July 2024, bringing in approximately $4 billion in revenue for the regime in August alone," continued the lawmakers.

"We urge you to follow the law and promptly make sanctions determinations, impose appropriate sanctions, and report to Congress what determinations have been made and which sanctions have been imposed. No amount of appeasement to the Iranian regime will quell its unacceptable conduct. Only by exerting maximum pressure on members of the Iranian regime and connected individuals can we hope to stem this behavior," concluded the lawmakers.

Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of the 118th Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.