Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement today after the release of a Senate investigative report detailing how the Obama administration secretly sought to give Iran access to the U.S. financial system:

“This report confirms what we already knew: the Obama administration tried to hide a secret push to give the ayatollah access to the U.S. dollar. This dangerous move, well beyond the requirements of the JCPOA, would have posed real threats to our economy and our national security. Thankfully, the persistent oversight of the Foreign Affairs Committee helped sink the prior administration’s plan. Iran was shut out of the global financial system because of its full range of threatening behaviors – including its support for terrorism. The details in this new report highlight the need to keep these sanctions in place. Senator Portman and his subcommittee deserve credit for continuing to pursue this important issue.”

NOTE: Through a series of hearings and a Washington Post op-ed in 2016, Chairman Royce raised alarm about the administration’s plans. In July of 2016, the House passed Royce’s U.S. Financial System Protection Act (H.R. 4992) to codify existing regulations that prohibit the administration from allowing the U.S. dollar to be used to facilitate trade transactions with Iran.

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