Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas, and I certainly thank my good friend from New York, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, for his collaboration on this bill, H.R. 4681, the Illicit Captagon Trafficking Suppression Act. I appreciate Mr. Moskowitz, my partner and collaborator in drafting this measure. With the help of Mr. McCaul from Texas and Mr. Meeks from New York, this bill passed the House Foreign Affairs Committee 44-0. It is a key follow-up to my CAPTAGON Act of 2022, which was enacted into law as a part of the National Defense Authorization Act of that year. This measure would further press the Assad regime in Syria by imposing new sanctions to directly target individuals and networks associated with the production and trafficking of this dangerous drug, captagon, and the resulting illicit finance. This illegal drug trafficking is being orchestrated by Assad's relatives, leaders in his security forces, and those affiliated with Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah. These sanctions and a successful U.S.-led captagon strategy are necessary in order to disrupt the illicit funds to the Assad regime and Hezbollah. Mr. Speaker, this drug is exiting Syria by way of Lebanon and the Syrian ports to the Mediterranean. It has been found in Europe. It has been found manufactured in Europe.…”