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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast issued the following statement after the House voted in favor of a bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) to ensure no more U.S. tax dollars fall into the hands of the Taliban after the Biden administration paid the terrorist regime millions of dollars following the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“This bill makes sure not a single penny of American taxpayer money ends up in the hands of the Taliban—not directly, not through back doors, and not via weak-willed foreign governments or shady NGOs,” Chairman Mast said. “If you’re funding the Taliban, you’re no friend of the United States.”

This issue has been a key focus for House Republicans since last Congress when lawmakers were made aware that weekly cash shipments of nearly $40 million were being sent to Afghanistan’s Taliban-controlled Central Bank.

Additionally, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction reported in May 2024 that more than $10 million had been paid to the Taliban in the form of taxes since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later admitted that around $10 million had been paid to the Taliban in the form of taxes after testifying before the committee in December 2024. 

Republicans, led by Rep. Burchett, introduced H.R. 6586 last Congress to oppose financial and material support from falling into the hands of the Taliban. The measure passed unanimously both in committee and on the House floor, but Senate Democrats refused to bring the bill up for final passage.

This Congress, Republicans introduced H.R. 260 –  No Tax Dollars for Terrorist Act which builds upon H.R. 6586 to ensure no U.S. taxpayer dollars end up in the hands of the Taliban.

The bill advanced to the House floor during the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s first full committee markup of the 119th Congress.

“I would like to thank Chairman Mast and the entire House Foreign Affairs Committee for their tireless work on this legislation,” Rep. Burchett said. “We are one step closer to ensuring that US dollars stop flowing to terrorist organizations.”

The measure now proceeds to the Senate for final passage.

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