Ed Royce: “When you make payments like this, all you do is invite more Americans to be held hostage.”

I want to begin by recognizing the efforts of Mr. Smith, Chair of the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights, and Ranking Member Engel for their strong leadership on this critical issue. Mr. Speaker, for seven years…

I have one more speaker. I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Roskam), a member of the Committee on Ways and Means, and co-chair of the bipartisan Task Force on Combating Anti-Semitism.

The Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, which was authored by myself and Mr. Eliot Engel, empowered the administration with some of the most potent weapons yet.

These efforts build on previous U.S. sanctions as well as those by Canada, the European Union, and Switzerland.