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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the House Foreign Affairs Committee 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 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.  

“The United States has sent over $5 billion in cash to Kabul,” Rep. Burchett said. “This money has been taxed and stolen by the Taliban, yet we continue to send it oddly enough. That definitely needs to end. The State Department needs to ensure that that any aid, whether financial or material, does not go to terrorists in Afghanistan. We need to have a clear understanding of the influence the Taliban has on, not just international aid, but the Afghan banking system as well.”

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.

“This bill requires the Department of State to develop and implement a strategy to discourage foreign countries and non-government organizations, NGOs, from providing financial and material support to the Taliban,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast said. “That’s important for the United States of America. We don’t have an embassy there. We don’t have diplomatic relations with the Taliban – they are a terrorist organization.

“This includes by using U.S.-provided foreign assistance to discourage countries and organizations from providing support to the Taliban,” Chairman Mast added. “We don’t want American tax dollars, in any way, shape or form, going to the Taliban.”

The bill, which has 23 co-sponsors, advanced to the House floor alongside several other measures during the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s first full committee markup of the 119th Congress.

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