WASHINGTON—United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Banking Committee and Foreign Relations Committee, has introduced the Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act of 2021, a bill that would enable Congress to approve—or block—any Administration effort to suspend or terminate U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime.
“It is critical that Congress proactively serve as a check on the Biden Administration’s irresponsible and dangerous appeasement efforts, especially as Iran’s terror-sponsoring regime continues to back aggression against Americans abroad. The United States cannot fall victim again to Tehran’s blackmail, bribery, and extortion by giving into its demands for sanctions relief. My legislation will ensure that Congress will have its say before the Biden Administration takes actions that jeopardize the security of the United States, Israel, and our Arab partners in the Middle East,” Senator Hagerty said.
Even as the Iranian regime continues to support terrorism, regional militancy, missile proliferation, cyber attacks, and other forms of aggression—including rocket attacks by Iran-backed militias targeting U.S. forces in Iraq—the Biden Administration last week indicated that it wants to negotiate with Tehran to relieve sanctions on the Iranian regime and reenter the flawed nuclear deal. Hagerty’s legislation builds on the precedent of a 2017 bipartisan law that empowers Congress to vote to support or block Russian sanctions relief, and applies identical congressional review procedure to any future Iran sanctions relief. In effect, Hagerty’s legislation would prevent the administration from rolling back sanctions in exchange for advancing negotiations or reentering the deal without first securing strong congressional support.
Hagerty’s first Senate bill has 21 original co-sponsors, including Senators John Barrasso (R-WY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Josh Hawley (R-MO), John Hoeven (R-ND), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John Kennedy (R-LA), James Lankford (R-OK), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ben Sasse (R-NE), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), and Todd Young (R-IN)