Press Releases

Today, Congressmen Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) issued the following statement on the passage of the Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act, bipartisan legislation he introduced alongside Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-05) to target the financial institutions processing Iranian petroleum sanctions.

"Iran is the number one state sponsor of terror in the world. For years, they have funded Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terrorist organizations," said Congressman Lawler. "They backed Hamas' barbaric October 7 attack against Israel - the largest mass murder of Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. And they fired hundreds of rockets at Israel just last weekend. All of this is made possible by the money Iran receives from its illicit oil trade - which has amounted to over $88 billion since President Biden took office."

"The Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act, along with the SHIP Act we passed last November and which is finally coming up in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee tomorrow, will kneecap Iran's ability to export murder and instability across the region," Congressman Lawler concluded. "Enough is enough. We must hold Iran and its backers accountable - especially China, the number one purchaser of Iranian petroleum. These two bills will do exactly that and I urge the Senate to pass them both as soon as possible."

"I’m proud to help lead and pass this bipartisan legislation with my fellow Problem Solvers Caucus member, Congressman Lawler. Our legislation holds two members of the ‘Axis of Evil’ — some of our most dangerous adversaries — Iran and China, accountable for their nefarious activities," said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a member of the House Financial Services Committee. "After Iran's unprecedented attack on Israel and as its regime of terror deepens ties to China, we are reminded that they cannot be trusted. Iran has directly, or through their terrorist proxies, killed hundreds of Americans and attacked our bases and our allies in the region. All of this is why we must cut off sources of funding for Iran and protect America, our assets, civilians, and allies across the globe."

"The House will not stand by and allow Communist China to continue financing Iran’s terrorist agenda. I commend Rep. Lawler’s leadership for bringing strong bipartisan legislation, unanimously approved by the House Financial Services Committee, forward to tighten the United States sanctions and restrict China’s purchasing of Iranian oil," said House Speaker Mike Johnson.

New York's 17th Congressional District is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties.