U.S. SENATE — U.S. Senator Steve Daines today demanded that that the federal government stop paying ransoms, to enemy states or state sponsors of terror. Following reports of the Obama administration paying a $1.7 billion settlement to Iran shortly after Iran released unjustly detained US citizens, Daines helped introduce the No Ransom Payments Act.
This legislation would prohibit any future settlement payments to Iran until it returns the ransom money it received and pays the American victims of Iranian terrorism what they are owed. Additionally, this legislation would impose sanctions on Iranians involved in the detention of US citizens and prohibits the President or U.S. officials from paying a ransom.
“Our country should not be in the business of paying ransoms to hostile countries, especially to Iran – the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism,” Daines stated. “This disastrous policy is yet another example of President Obama appeasing our enemies. President Obama’s misguided nuclear deal with Iran has only put our country and the world in a more precarious position and we cannot and should not reward their aggressive behavior.”
Daines is a co-sponsor of the No Ransom Payments Act introduced by U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL).
###