Ernst, Hassan Crack Down on Iran Funding Crime in U.S.

Iran has reportedly paid criminal organizations in America to carry out violent crimes and assassination attempts.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) are announcing a bipartisan effort to strengthen criminal penalties and boost accountability for individuals who commit or attempt to commit violent crimes in the United States on behalf of foreign adversaries.

In September 2024, Ernst and Hassan called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take action and stop foreign actors, including the Iranian regime, from carrying out criminal activity on our soil.

"Iran is bringing their reign of violence to our homeland, and bad actors helping the regime carry out its proxy terrorism must be met with consequences," said Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Any person or organization that does the bidding of foreign adversaries on U.S. soil jeopardizes Americans' safety. We must end the growing footprint of Tehran's terrorism and deter this criminal behavior by ensuring it's met with the full force of the justice system."

"We need to do more to stop the new and chilling set of attempted crimes by our foreign adversaries who are trying to silence their critics in the United States by directing criminals in our country to harm them," said Senator Hassan. "Our upcoming bipartisan legislation will help ensure that those who commit or attempt these heinous acts face serious consequences and deter others from accepting offers to do the dirty work of foreign governments."

The Deterring External Threats and Ensuring Robust Responses to Egregious and Nefarious Criminal Endeavors (DETERRENCE) Actwould include measures such as:

• Boosting sentences for offenders working with foreign adversaries and deter individuals and criminal organizations to carry out violence on American soil, like murder-for-hire, threatening or assaulting current or former U.S. officials, kidnapping, and stalking; and,
• Increasing the maximum penalties available for stalking related charges when done on behalf of a foreign government.

Background:

Ernst has been leading the PUNISH Act to enforce "maximum pressure" sanctions on Iran until the State Department can certify that Iran has not supported any attempt in the last five years to kill a U.S. citizen or a former or current U.S. official.

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