WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) penned this op-ed in Newsweek urging Congress to work together to prevent Iran and other state sponsors of terrorism from receiving billions of dollars in special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) without congressional approval.

Kennedy has introduced the No Dollars for Dictators Act to require congressional authorization before the IMF can issue any special drawing rights to state sponsors of terrorism or genocide.

Key excerpts of the op-ed are below:

“Under certain circumstances, the IMF can make general allocations to each member nation called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs). . . . The president of the United States has to approve these allocations, but Congress only votes on distributions above a certain amount—a threshold the IMF and the Biden administration apparently love to dodge.

“In 2021, President Biden approved the largest IMF allocation of SDRs in history, conveniently valued at $650 billion to narrowly avoid congressional scrutiny. This was designed ostensibly to help countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, but money is fungible. It played out just how you’d imagine.

“Russia received $16.2 billion from the IMF and invaded Ukraine six months later. China received $38.3 billion for pandemic response but refused to allow the world to investigate the COVID-19 origins. Iran received $4.5 billion while promoting terrorism throughout the world and brutalizing protesters who sought equality for women.”

. . .

“Days before Hamas attacked Israel, several of my colleagues in the Senate and dozens more in the House wrote a letter to President Biden asking him to approve another IMF distribution of SDRs worth $650 billion.

“If he approves this allocation, Iran could receive as much as $4.9 billion to fund terrorism, China could receive another $41.6 billion to menace Taiwan, and Russia could receive $17.6 billion to fund its war on Ukraine. President Biden has made the mistake of approving IMF allocations once. Congress cannot stand by and let him do it again.”  

. . .

“It’s difficult to imagine why the United States wouldn’t stop Iran from taking billions of American dollars to use against the safety and security of the American people. Iranian leaders saw the killing and kidnapping of innocent people in Israel, including dozens of Americans, and cheered. It was nauseating, but not surprising. Iran hates America and our allies. Yet the Biden administration—from the 2021 IMF allocation to the $6 billion prisoner swap—continues to try to placate this vicious regime by bankrolling it.

“Congress needs to have the authority to step in before the White House can rubber stamp the allocation of billions of dollars to America’s most enthusiastic, violent enemies. My colleagues should join me in ensuring that Congress has a say before terrorists and dictators get another dollar from the IMF.”

The full op-ed is available here.

Text of the No Dollars for Dictators Act is here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) joined Sens. Chris Coons (D-Conn.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) in urging Senate leadership to prioritize the reauthorization of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the senators wrote that renewing AGOA would create valuable opportunities for U.S. businesses, workers and consumers, while advancing national security interests.

“Renewing AGOA would offer businesses an important incentive to increase production in Sub-Saharan Africa, diversifying their global supply chains and reducing dependence on the People’s Republic of China,” wrote the senators.

“With an early, lengthy renewal, Congress can provide businesses the long-term certainty needed to diversify and secure their supply chains,” they continued.

“As you consider the legislative calendar for the months ahead, we strongly urge you to consider the reauthorization of AGOA as an important priority,” the senators concluded.

In Sept. 2023, Kennedy introduced the AGOA Extension Act of 2023 to extend the program for 20 years to 2045. 

Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) also signed the letter.

Background: 

• Congress first enacted the African Growth and Opportunity Act in 2000. The program encourages African countries to adopt market-based economies, support democracy and protect due process and the rule of law. 

• In turn, AGOA-eligible nations receive duty-free access to thousands of products in the U.S. market. Today, 36 countries are eligible for AGOA benefits. The AGOA also supported nearly 120,000 jobs in the United States. 

• Congress authorized AGOA through 2025. 

The full letter is available here. 

Full text of the AGOA Extension Act of 2023 is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today introduced the Emergency Advance Payments Modernization Act, a bill to help the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) quickly issue National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) advance payments by modernizing the technology the agency uses to respond to natural disasters.

“When natural disasters strike, the last thing Louisiana families can afford to do is wait around for FEMA to issue an advance payment before they can begin the recovery process. My bill would help ensure FEMA has the tools it needs to rapidly issue advance payments for flood insurance claims so that families get the money they need to recover from disasters when it counts,” said Kennedy.

Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) introduced the bill in the House of Representatives.

Background:

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program today allows policyholders to receive advance payments in the wake of natural disasters. These advance payments ensure families can have access to their insurance dollars, even if FEMA has not yet been able to inspect the damage to their homes. Advance payments expedite the recovery process for Louisiana families.

FEMA, however, struggles to quickly approve these advance payments because it does not have access to the real-time data it needs to authorize the payments.

The Emergency Advance Payments Modernization Act would direct FEMA to establish a pilot program to review how satellite-driven hazard monitoring systems could provide real-time data to FEMA to facilitate the pre-inspection approval of advance payments from the NFIP. 

Text of the Emergency Advance Payments Modernization Act is available here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today joined Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) in introducing the Where Are The Terrorists Now Act, a bill that would require the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to provide a monthly report to Congress disclosing the number of migrants on the FBI’s Terrorist Watchlist whom U.S. officials encounter at the southern border.

“The Biden administration continues to undermine our national security by ignoring the crisis at our border. More members of the FBI’s terror watchlist are sneaking into our country than ever before. If the Biden administration is going to forfeit its duty to protect American citizens, Congress needs to have transparency from the Department of Homeland Security so we can address the real terrorist threat open borders pose to American communities,” said Kennedy.

“There is an invasion at our southern border. Every day that the Biden Administration continues their open border agenda, Americans’ national security is at risk. Month after month, we have seen historic numbers of migrants on the FBI’s terror watchlist infiltrating our country’s border. The threat the individuals on this list pose to Americans’ safety is too great for us to do nothing,” said Marshall.

Under the Where Are The Terrorists Now Act, the DHS, in partnership with the Department of Justice and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, must provide Congress with a monthly report including:

• The number of individuals who are on the terrorist screening database that border officials encounter.

• Where each individual was encountered.

• Why each individual is on the Terrorist Watchlist.

• Any ties each individual has to a terrorist organization.

• The individual’s nation of origin.

• The individual’s criminal convictions.

• How the individual traveled to the United States.

• Where the individuals were detained, whether they are still detained, whether they have been deported, whether they have been transferred to another agency, and their known whereabouts if they have been released.

• If the individual has been released, how DHS determined that the individual does not present a danger to the U.S.

Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) also co-sponsored the legislation.

Full text of the legislation is available here.