Political Quotes

“House Resolution 879 allows for the consideration of H.R. 5931, the Prohibiting Future Ransom Payments to Iran Act. The rule makes in order all five amendments submitted to the Rules Committee. The rule also provides authority for the House to expeditiously consider a continuing resolution. On June 24, 2015, President Obama stood in the Roosevelt Room of the White House and said: ``I am reaffirming that the United States Government will not make concessions, such as paying ransom, to terrorist groups holding American hostages.'' This position shouldn't have been surprising. It has long been the position of the U.S. Government to not pay ransoms to terrorist organizations, for doing so only encourages further kidnappings and puts more American lives at risk. Despite this reassurance from President Obama, on January 17, 2016, an unmarked cargo plane landed at a European airport. On this plane were wooden pallets stacked with unmarked foreign currency--$400 million worth, to be exact. Who was waiting at the airport to accept this money? The Islamic Republic of Iran. On that exact same day, several Americans who had been held prisoner in Iran were released. That, Mr. Speaker, is a ransom payment. Since then, we have learned that the full U.S. payment to Iran totaled $1.7 billion. The money was related to a decades-old dispute about an Iranian arms sale. There are a lot of concerning issues at play here.…”