Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2285. I would like to thank my colleague from Illinois (Mr. Roskam) for his strong support in trying to eradicate a major funding source for a terrorist group that is causing great destruction all over the world now, ISIL. I rise in support of H.R. 2285. It is a bill to prevent stolen and illicit cultural property from financing terrorist and criminal networks, and also to improve enforcement and prosecution against trafficking in cultural property. Mr. Speaker, H.R. 2285, the Prevent Trafficking in Cultural Property Act, is a bipartisan bill aimed at stopping ISIL and other terrorist groups from advancing their activities through the sale of stolen antiquities and other cultural property. Along with oil and hostage- taking, this is one of the leading sources of their terrorist financing. To date, ISIL has reportedly plundered tens of millions of dollars from antiquities stolen in Syria alone. In just one 4-month period, at the end of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, ISIL earned more than $265,000 in what they term ``taxes'' on the sale of antiquities. I was struck by intelligence indicating that ISIL had stolen $36 million from one site alone in al-Nabuk, west of Damascus.…”