Rubio introduces legislation designating Taliban as terrorist organization

U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) joined forces in introducing legislation directing the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist organization.

The legislation, Preventing Recognition of Terrorist States Act, would also ask Secretary of State Antony Blinken to designate the illegitimate Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan as a state sponsor of terrorism, and impose sanctions on any foreign individuals who knowingly provide assistance to the Taliban. Further, the legislation would require the U.S. Department of State to report to Congress within six months whether or not the Taliban should be designated as a significant foreign narcotics trafficker under the Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Lastly, the legislation would require the U.S. government ensure tax payers that no federal dollars would go to foreign terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.

“There is no doubt that a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan poses a direct threat to our national security interests and that of our allies and partners both in the Middle East and in Central Asia,” Rubio said. “Following the Biden Administration’s disastrous military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the country is already becoming a safe haven for terrorists who hate America. Unfortunately, there is no reason to think President Biden will treat the Taliban like the terrorists they are. Congress must take action to deal with this new reality and keep Americans safe.”

Under questioning from Rubio, a senior member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Blinken said that the relationship between the Taliban and Al-Qaeda “has not been severed, and it’s a very open questions as to whether their views and the relationship has changed in any kind of definitive way.”

The legislation would prevent U.S. aid benefiting the Taliban, Capito said.

“Thanks to the Biden administration underestimating and underpreparing for the Taliban’s eventual takeover of Afghanistan, we’ve seen what this radical, terrorist group is capable of,” Capito said. “Not only do they aid and abet terrorist acts, they continue to violate human rights, especially those of women and young children. By designating the Taliban as a foreign terrorist organization, preventing any future U.S. aid from making its way into their hands, and cracking down on other governments who support terrorism across the world, this legislation takes necessary steps to correct the egregious foreign policy mistakes made thus far by the Biden administration.”