U.S Sens. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced a bipartisan effort to crack down on individuals committing or attempting to commit violent crimes in the United States on behalf of Iran and other foreign adversaries.
The Congresswomen said Iran has allegedly paid criminal organizations in the United States to carry out violent crimes and assassination attempts. The legislation comes after Ernst and Hassan called on the U.S. Department of Justice to take action and stop foreign actors from funding crimes across the country in September.
“Iran is bringing their reign of violence to our homeland, and bad actors helping the regime carry out its proxy terrorism must be met with consequences,” Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said. “Any person or organization that does the bidding of foreign adversaries on U.S. soil jeopardizes Americans’ safety. We must end the growing footprint of Tehran’s terrorism and deter this criminal behavior by ensuring it’s met with the full force of the justice system.”
The Deterring External Threats and Ensuring Robust Responses to Egregious and Nefarious Criminal Endeavors (DETERRENCE) Act includes boosting sentences for those working with foreign adversaries to carry out violent crime and increasing the maximum penalties available for stalking related charges when done on behalf of a foreign government.
“We need to do more to stop the new and chilling set of attempted crimes by our foreign adversaries who are trying to silence their critics in the United States by directing criminals in our country to harm them,” Hassan said. “Our upcoming bipartisan legislation will help ensure that those who commit or attempt these heinous acts face serious consequences and deter others from accepting offers to do the dirty work of foreign governments.”