Western Hemisphere Counterterrorism and Nonproliferation Act of 2008

H.R.7068
Introduced: 
September 25, 2008
110
Second
September 25, 2008
Referred to House (sub)committee

3 cosponsors

This bill seeks to augment U.S. counterterrorism and nonproliferation efforts in Central and South America by redirecting funding to regional counterterror organizations, prohibiting nuclear cooperation with countries that participate in proliferation in the region, and by granting the president the power to impose sanctions on nations in the region that threaten U.S. national security interests. Among the findings of this bill are that Hizballah has been active in Central and South America. The bill cites as evidence a Lebanese national illegally entering the U.S. through Mexico who was described by a U.S. attorney as a “fighter, recruiter and fundraiser” and “charged with supporting Hizbullah financially”; the U.S. Treasury Department’s 2006 designation of 9 individuals and 2 entities as part of a network that is “a major financial artery to Hizbullah in Lebanon”; and the Treasury’s subsequent announcement of an effort to “target Hizbullah fundraising in the tri-border area of Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay.” Also cited was Interpol’s November 2007 issuance of red capture notices for the arrest of a Hizballah leader and 5 former senior Iranian officials charged by Argentina in the 1994 AMIA bombing.

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